stltoday
Belleville News Democrat
Suburban Journals
A couple of items that struck me when reading through these stories.
"The reason is simple," said Rebecca Rausch, vice president of public affairs for Fleishman-Hillard of St. Louis, who served as spokeswoman for developer Bruce Holland and the University Town Center. "For more than a year, Bruce and his team tried to get the support of local mayors and lawmakers, but couldn't get it. Bruce and his team are not moving forward with the University Town Center Development."
I feel this development is strong enough to stand on its own. I understand finding financing is tough right now as many projects people thought were going to happen simply are not because organizations cannot get funding, banks aren't even willing to fund their long planned expansions in some cases.
Maybe the project can be scaled down and started on. If two or three of the anchors begin construction many of the others will come on their own I would think.
The most troubling note I read was this
Holland said in a press release that opponents made it clear they didn't want the development in Madison County.
I don't really remember anywhere along the way any voices saying the project was not wanted in Madison County. The issues with the project were in regards to funding. If he was told that his development was not wanted in Madison County he should have made that more public.
The most interesting part of this whole saga is yet to take place. Where will this "development" move to next. There are some large tenants like LegoLand & Ikea which were rumored in the Columbia Crossing development and were mentioned as part of the University Town Center project as well. These are very large tax revenue producing city changing locations that have an obvious desire to locate in the metro region.
Which town will they turn to next and what funding will the attempt to recive for their business. Time will tell.
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