[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... u8.twitter

Cost of riverfront football stadium to top $1.01 billion

David Hunn

ST. LOUIS • The estimated construction cost of the proposed football stadium downtown just grew by $10 million.

A draft of the newest legislation written for the St. Louis Board of Aldermen figures facility development will now top $1.01 billion.

Bonds issued by the state’s stadium authority, owner of the Edward Jones Dome, would cover the increase, according to a draft of the aldermanic bill. City taxes paid by fans during game days — on tickets, hot dogs and beer, for instance — would largely pay off those bonds, it says.

Dave Peacock, co-chairman of Gov. Jay Nixon’s stadium task force, said last week that the task force wasn’t asking the city to pay any more.

Instead, the project leans on the state to pay annual debt principal on the new bonds if the city doesn’t collect enough game-day tax revenue to cover it, according to the bill. Correspondingly, if game-day taxes more than cover debt payments, the money would pay the state back for its help, plus 5 percent interest, the bills says.

And if the stadium is wildly successful, the taxes could retire the debt early, or even cover the state’s own annual contribution to stadium construction.

On Monday, however, some Jefferson City legislators quickly expressed concern.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, a frequent critic of the stadium’s proposed financing, said he had only briefly seen the new bill but worried that some of the added wording attempted to bind legislators, legally, to pass a state budget with debt payments included.

“They can’t force us to do that,” he said. “If that is what they’re intending to do, that’s pretty disgusting.”

The draft of the bill also listed some new cost estimates and fund sources:

The task force projected building construction to increase by about $25 million. Site development jumped by $7 million. Site clearing, demolition and cleanup added $17 million.

Other costs dipped, some significantly. The new bill estimated reduced costs for the parking garage, for instance, by about $15 million, and of business relocation, by about $6 million.

To cover the new costs, the stadium authority would issue $80 million in bonds, instead of the $75 million contemplated earlier, and pay $10 million, instead of $5 million, out of authority bank accounts.

Peacock declined an interview, but briefly explained that the new costs are, in part, a reflection of pricing obtained by task force contractors and also of bills already paid as the task force has worked to develop plans and secure land on the north riverfront.

Stadium planning costs have totaled more than $13 million so far.

[OldSchool]

I saw some reports by people in St Louis that it was $1.2 billion and not only did they have to get stuff to pass the Aalderman board but they had to secure that extra $220 million from the planed $980 million. Their plan is a mess and falling apart especially with the NFL backing Oakland and not them.

[dieterbrock]

Yeah, when the number gets to 1.2 -1.3 billion, I'll be happy.
Keeping the number under 1 Billion has always been a cheesy visual. It's like when we advertise mortgage/Home equity rates as 3.99% instead of 4

[Hacksaw]

Hi, I'm Earl Schieb, I can paint any car for $19.95, , No Up's,, No Extras...
Here's a $20... keep the change.

An OC Reg article also said between $1.2 and $1.3. I posted that at RRF but it was dismissed.

[RamsFanSince82]

You're right Hacksaw. The reporter that wrote this article seemed surprised when I said that NFL officials are concerned that the STL stadium would end up costing 1.2-1.3 B.

[RamsFanSince82]

The following tweets are about the STL stadium financing and the possible team contribution to the stadium.

[den-the-coach]

[Elvis]

[bubbaramfan]

With the attendance of Ram home games lately, they will need 100 years to sell that many hot dogs.

[SoCalRam78]

So Vinny B argues that the deal is unfavorable in the NFL's eyes, which is good. But it's enough to give Carson the edge? Yeah, uh, no. Vinny only looks at this situation as an all or none deal with Carson and Ing being on equal footing, which isn't true. He's also blind to the fact the NFL doesn't really want the Raiders in LA.