MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. (AP) - Weeks after the NFL agreed to allow Rams owner Stan Kroenke to move his team out of St. Louis, one of the billionaire sports mogul's business partners is pushing a development plan in the city's suburbs that could be funded in part by taxpayer money.
Kroenke attorney Alan Bornstein is behind plans to develop 1,800 acres of flood plain in Maryland Heights, Missouri, into a retail, entertainment, office, residential and sports district. Maryland Heights officials say Kroenke is an investor.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1T1qwGi) reports that the Maryland Heights City Council on Thursday began the formal process to allow tax incentives to aid the redevelopment, voting to advertise a request for proposals.
NFL owners agreed in January to permit the Rams to move to Los Angeles starting next season. The move has made Kroenke and his associates villains to many in St. Louis.
J. Wayne Oldroyd, Maryland Heights' director of community development, said he didn't think Kroenke's recent run-ins with Rams fans and public officials would be problematic for the development.
Bornstein did not reply to messages seeking comment.
Bornstein's proposal is the first since 2008 to offer a redevelopment plan for the Maryland Heights flood plain area, City Administrator Tim Krischke said.
Bornstein told a city committee in January that he already owned 425 acres of the proposed redevelopment area, had an additional 230 acres under contract and was in discussion with property owners to secure the rest.
Minutes from that meeting show he suggested the project would require significant tax incentives, saying that a "public/private partnership would be necessary." Tax incentives have been approved for smaller redevelopment projects in the city.
Krischke said there's a good chance the council will approve incentives for any redevelopment of the area.
Other large-scale development projects in the St. Louis region typically benefit from tax incentives.
NorthPark, a 550-acre project in north St. Louis County that will include facilities for the company Express Scripts, a hotel and a large distribution center for Schnuck Markets, is receiving tax-increment financing, as is Premier 370, a business park in St. Peters, Missouri.
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com