UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — University City officials held a press conference Monday morning to discuss a proposed TIF-funded development at Olive Boulevard and Interstate 170. The final redevelopment agreement will be introduced at next Tuesday's council meeting, with a vote expected June 10. An initial plan was put forward in January, but the city was forced to renegotiate its deal with Webster Groves-based Novus Development after a local watchdog discovered a multimillion-dollar mistake in the city's numbers. Officials say, despite previous errors, a lack of transparency from the developer isn't a red flag for them.

While the city made a substantial number of compromises to secure the deal, the council remains firmly behind the "unprecedented" project, according to a press release. Officials say the retail shopping center will offer protection against other municipalities dropping out of the county's shared sales tax pool, create 150 to 250 livable-wage jobs and provide money to reinvest in the city's poorest communities. But promises have shifted over the past year. The city had originally pledged to invest $15 million into the city's third ward almost immediately if the deal passed. Now, the majority of that money will come in $200,000 chunks over the next 20 years, depending on future revenues. The developer will backstop slightly less than half that amount should revenues fall short.

City Manager Gregory Rose said he hasn't looked at how much less that money will be worth over time, as opposed to a lump sum payment, but acknowledged "the net present value probably diminishes as relates to the city's ability to use those funds." He also said that none of the money will come from revenue not directly related to the TIF development, though, according to the new agreement, "the City will commit ... any TIF Revenues generated from [the residential third ward and Olive Business Corridor]" toward the promised $15 million.

In a subsequent email, Rose clarified that he meant any economic activity or property tax revenue from those areas will be minimal when compared with the primary development. Still, some third ward residents fear the development could cause property taxes to rise, pricing them out of their own communities. University City Manager Gregory Rose takes questions at a press conference Monday morning as Mayor Terry Crow looks on. (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch) The new deal guarantees just $3 million up front for revitalization efforts, with some of that money going toward relocation assistance for the development area's existing businesses, Rose said Monday. How much isn't clear. How the rest of the money will be allocated between the residential third ward and the Olive Business Corridor also remains unclear.



"It's a negotiated agreement. We didn't get everything that we want. Certainly Novus didn't get everything they want," Rose said. But when pressed on what exactly Novus gave up during negotiations, he was unable to say.

"As far as what did they give up, I wish I could tell you," Rose said. "That's a better question for Novus."

On Friday afternoon, the city posted a slew of new public documents related to the TIF on its website, including a long secret financial analysis by the St. Louis Development Corporation's Jonathan Ferry, an outside expert hired by the city. According to a memorandum dated April 18, 2019, Ferry recommended a taxpayer subsidized incentive for the development between $51.6 million and $65.8 million. That's at best $5 million less than the $70.5 million the city has promised to hand over to Novus over the next two decades. At worst, the city is chipping in almost $20 million more than it needs to for the project to work.