A state Senator is calling on lawmakers to provide incentives to rehabilitate vacant commercial spaces, particularly in urban downtowns like St. Louis and Kansas City. Sen. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, said that something needs to be done to rid both cities of “eyesores.”
“It’s too expensive to tear them down and it’s too cost prohibitive to make those types of conversations,” Roberts said. “With St. Louis in particular, you’ve got a downtown that only has a population of just over 5,000 folks living there. So, you know, you really need to do everything we can to increase that demand.”
The governor’s Office of Administration announced in July that it plans to relocate most state workers from the downtown St. Louis Wainright Building to the suburbs. That caused more vacancy in downtown St. Louis, which he said is a problem, not just for the city, but also for the state.
“St. Louis produces the third largest GDP for the state of Missouri and really kind of how our big city goes, the state goes,” he said. “So, you know, we need to be reinvesting in these core aspects of our communities.”
More than that, Roberts expressed frustration at the lack of communication.
“That signals to folks, outsiders looking in who are considering investing in the city of St. Louis, you’ve got this downtown that, you know, should be vibrant and thriving and growing, why would the state relocate its employees and what does that mean for the growth of the city of St. Louis,” he explained.
Multiple media reports say that the decision to sell the buildings was a financial one, but some critics of the mayor’s office blame the city’s high crime rate for the decision. The 10-story Wainright Building opened in 1892 and is considered one of the first skyscrapers in the United States.
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