Cardillo cited St. Louis as the most attractive site to recruit younger workers to the agency. NGA employs about 3,100 workers in St. Louis and could add employees after the move, expected in 2022 or 2023.

The city will now begin the process of clearing the 99-acre site just north of the former Pruitt Igoe housing complex.

Otis Williams, the city’s economic development director, spent years navigating the complicated project and persuading residents to move. In one case, he agreed to physically move an elderly resident’s house to another neighborhood.

Slay said Williams’ “focus and determination” is the reason NGA will stay in the city it has called home for more than 70 years.

The effort has come with a hefty price. So far, the state has committed $131 million to the project: $95 million in tax-increment financing, a portion of which would include diverting state income tax payments of NGA employees; and $36 million in brownfield tax credits — an amount higher than originally expected.

The city has committed $1.5 million a year over the next 30 years, including diverting half of the 1 percent earnings tax paid by NGA workers. Currently, NGA workers pay more than $2 million in income tax to the city, and officials expect employment and payroll to grow over time.