Developers of a Ramsey County project to place high-rises and public play space along a large swath of St. Paul’s downtown riverfront presented a clearer picture of what they’ve been working on the past several months — as well as an $80 million taxpayer price tag.

During a County Board workshop Tuesday, representatives of Los Angeles-based AECOM presented a plan that largely coincided with the pitch they delivered in January: Four towers, ranging from 15 to 29 stories, atop an open-air shelf stretching from the upper levels of downtown nearly to the Mississippi River’s edge.

The towers — replacing the former home of West Publishing and the county jail — would contain a mix of market-rate condos and apartments, a small boutique hotel, Class-A office and accompanying retail space.

In a city that hasn’t seen a skyscraper built in decades, the tallest of the proposed buildings — at 440 feet — would be the third-highest in the city, behind Wells Fargo Place and Galtier Towers.

All at a cost of $788 million — including a requested $80 million in public funding. Ramsey County will request half of that from the state Legislature next year, and the remainder would have to come from the county and other local sources.

And while the project is proposed to be built in phases, a hefty portion of those public dollars will be demanded on the front-end, when the largest portion of the public “shelf” will be built.

While the overall funding portion received relatively little debate at the workshop, two other topics did.

First, whether there was demand for additional downtown “Class A” office space. And second, why there will be no affordable housing options built into the project.

County staffers — who have been working with AECOM on the plan since January — presented the compromise: AECOM would contribute $5 million into an affordable housing fund, which could be used to fund affordable housing elsewhere.

The idea didn’t sit well with commissioner Victoria Reinhardt.

“You put in 5 million and we build affordable housing somewhere else? … If that’s the case, I think we should offer that to Arden Hills,” Reinhardt said, referring to that city’s Rice Creek Commons development project that is currently at an impasse, in part due to debate over how much density and affordable housing should be allowed.

“I just want to make sure we’re treating everyone the same. … It feels like it (the riverfront project) is being treated differently,” Reinhardt added.

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The beer industry looks for ways to help black brewers Commissioner Rafael Ortega replied by pointing out that within a couple blocks of the downtown project sit two large buildings offering affordable housing.

Board chair Jim McDonough appeared to agree, saying, “We need to make sure we aren’t concentrating it (affordable housing) into areas that have already invested.”

Commissioner Toni Carter noted, “I’d like to see a map that shows us where we have it, and where we need it.”

Still, Reinhardt pointed out that the Arden Hills project had a trailer park right next door, and worried about a “slippery slope. … Will others (cities) make that same argument?”

As for “Class A” space, AECOM principal Brian Dusek acknowledged that yes, there already is vacancy downtown. But it’s the wrong kind of vacancy, Dusek said — not the kind that would attract new Fortune 500 companies.

Those companies were looking for contiguous space with larger, flexible floor plans to play with, said Dusek — who added that he was confident he could fill at least the first proposed office building, and the second was optional.

A recent report by the Greater St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association, citing a survey in mid-2018, stated there was nearly 400,000 square feet of “Class A” office space in St. Paul.

But BOMA head Joe Spartz, who was present at Tuesday’s meeting, agreed with Dusek, saying that contiguous office space was important and not in plentiful supply.

Joe Spencer, head of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, a business coalition founded in partnership with the city, agreed.

“What I hear pretty consistently is some of the vacancy we have is the wrong kind of space,” Spencer said.

The plan is to build the riverfront project in phases, with the first covering the smallest towers. Those would house 56 condos, 350 apartments, and a 168-room hotel, along with 500 parking spaces beneath them. Ramps for bicyclists and pedestrians would stretch from the edge of the lid down to the river.

That phase alone is to cost $278 million — and over half of the $80 million public investment.

The next two phases would include additional public “shelf” space, and an office tower each. Both the later phases could be optional. If completed, AECOM claimed the 10-acre project would contribute an annual $13.5 million to $16.3 million in taxes.

After years of failed efforts to market the site to the private sector, the county spent $17 million to clear the river bluff in an attempt to draw a private developer.

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In November, the county completed a retaining wall along the bluff. That same month, the county sent out another proposal request for developers. AECOM’s proposal beat out nine other developers, and three other finalists.

The site has been off the tax rolls since 1992, when West Publishing moved to Eagan.

The former West buildings were later converted into government offices, but the county moved out of the facility in 2013.

The jail was closed in 2003.