Two health care associations that were proposing to build at the Missouri State Penitentiary might take their project elsewhere, an executive of one association said Wednesday.
The Missouri Primary Care Association and Missouri Behavioral Health Council announced they were partnering to build a $20 million facility at MSP last summer.
But the associations will decide today if those plans will continue.
Joe Pierle, the chief executive officer of the Missouri Primary Care Association, said staff members will discuss the matter today.
The city, partnering with private developers and the state of Missouri, aims to redevelop the historic prison site -- located on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River -- into a hub of commerce.
City Attorney Ryan Moehlman said the city and the associations have contrasting time frames for development progress.
"We are finding some differences when we can make things available. To them, they need to move a little bit quicker," Moehlman said.
The associations are "like-minded" and will work better housed together, Pierle told the News Tribune when the development was first announced. They announced plans to build a three-story, 50,000-square-foot building at MSP to provide space for offices, technical training and a conference center.
The Missouri Primary Care Association is a nonprofit organization seeking to provide affordable and quality health care, while the Missouri Behavioral Health Council oversees support for community mental health centers and substance use treatment providers in the state.
So far the entire vision for MSP, outlined in its master plan, includes building a conference center, parking structure and hotel. However, some gaps in financing the hotel has caused delays in finalizing the final contract or developer's agreement.
Last fall, the city said it was "really close" to signing the developer's agreement with hotel developer Chesterfield Hotels, Inc. But on Wednesday, Moehlman said, it's hard to predict when the agreement will be finalized.
The state also has announced plans to build a massive health lab near Chestnut Street at MSP, valued at $180 million.
An "arduous process" the city must undergo to comply with requirements of accepting a federal grant is also taking longer, Moehlman said. The Economic Development Administration is providing a $1.5 million grant.
He said, nonetheless, the city is still trying to work with the associations "on making those time frames match up."
"The road the city wants to build that the (associations) would use is the subject of the EDA grant," he said. "Also, the financing issue with the hotel, the exact design of that road is going to depend on the design of the hotel."
Moehlman said the city can't complete any final designs until financing for the hotel is completed.
"It's about trading information and making sure that everyone has all the information that's needed in order to make a financing decision," Moehlman said. "But you know, it's something that we're working on literally on a daily basis."
Mayor Carrie Tergin said she and city officials understand there are still a lot of moving parts in the entire project.
"Although building on the MSP site is more complex for the associations and it would take more time, there's a long-term benefit to developing on a site with millions of dollars of redevelopment committed," she said.