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TIF redevelopment plan recommended for former auto plant project

 

ST. LOUIS — KP Development, a St. Louis-based developer, has gotten a major boost in its plans to transform the former Chrysler Assembly Plant site in Fenton., Mo., into a massive logistics park.

Last week, the St. Louis County Tax Increment Financing Commission recommended approval of $34.6 million in TIF funding for the redevelopment of the site.

The TIF Commission’s recommendation now will be sent to the St. Louis County Council for consideration and final approval in August.

The recommendation brings KP Development one step closer to turning the former 295-acre Chrysler site into a planned, $222 million, 2.1 million-square foot business park.

The redevelopment site, which is known as Fenton Logistics Park, is expected to feature nearly 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing, logistics and warehouse space; 480,000 square feet of office/warehouse and flex space; 182,500 square feet of retail, restaurant and hotel space, and 105 acres of land owned by the BNSF Railway for anticipated additional railroad services. The overall development has the potential to result in 2,500 to 3,000 permanent jobs, pumping an estimated $135 million in wages to the region. The actual redevelopment of the site is also expected to create 500-750 construction jobs over the next several years.

KP Development focuses on development, construction and project management for industrial and office projects across the country. In the summer of 2014, the Fenton Board of Alderman approved KP Development’s development and zoning plans for the Chrysler Plant site, and that fall, KP Development officially closed on its purchase of the site.

“We are thrilled with the St. Louis County Tax Increment Financing Commission’s decision to recommend this necessary funding and pave the way for the rejuvenation of a dilapidated, vacant and obsolete industrial site that represents an important phase in the history of St. Louis’ economy,” said Scott Haley, managing director of KP Development. “This action is essential to making the Fenton Logistics park project a reality. We look forward to accelerating our work to redevelop this site, and ultimately creating thousands of sustained jobs and renewal of an area which once employed so many.”

Following the shuttering of the Chrysler North and South Assembly plans in 2008 and 2009, more than 6,300 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect jobs were lost. And, since the razing of the assembly plants in 2011, the site itself has been abandoned.

Through KP Development’s redevelopment plans, more than eight-million square feet of asphalt concrete slabs and parking lots will be removed, two miles of new streets and roadways will be added and an all new utilities infrastructure will be created.

KP Development also is seeking an additional $17 million in state supplemental tax increment financing assistance. The final decision on the state TIF is expected in fall 2016.

For more information about Fenton Logistics Park, visit www.kpdevelopment.com.

— From the Illinois Business Journal

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