Ballpark Village delayed another month

Ballpark Village is not on the agenda for this week???s Missouri Development Finance Board, putting state approval for a subsidy package at least another month away.

Ballpark Village is slated to be built in phases on a 10.5-acre site next to Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis, but has faced major changes in the project scope and size and delays in recent years.

The city of St. Louis??? board of aldermen approved a package of incentives earlier this year for up to $188 million for the $551 million project, depending on what gets built on the site.

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State sign-off on the subsidy package is required before the project???s developers, the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore-based Cordish Co., can sell bonds to pay for the project.

Missouri Development Finance Board members, including Chair Linda Martinez, a St. Louis attorney who also is director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, heard a presentation on Ballpark Village by its backers at the board???s March and April meetings, but a vote on approving the subsidies was not taken at either meeting.

Ballpark Village is not on the agenda for Thursday's MDFB meeting in Jefferson City, and a special meeting by the MDFB is not currently being considered before the next MDFB meeting on June 16, said Bob Miserez, executive director of the MDFB.

???The process of review for complex projects such as Ballpark Village takes multiple meetings,??? said Department of Economic Development spokesman John Fougere. ???We also feel that it is very important to make sure that the finance board???s newest members have all the information they need to make an informed decision on projects under consideration. Further, we must be sure that all due diligence steps are complete before the board takes official action.???

St. Louis-based financial services firm Stifel Financial Corp. is seeking to relocate from downtown St. Louis and occupy 175,000 square feet of space as an anchor tenant at Ballpark Village in 2011. No other tenants have yet been announced.

Kansas City-based law firm Polsinelli Shughart PC was in talks to consolidate two St. Louis offices in 100,000 square feet of space at Ballpark Village, but instead renewed at its current office building downtown this month due to delays in the project.