The Jefferson City Council on Monday will discuss the ongoing process of choosing a developer for the Missouri State Penitentiary site for the first time in public.
Mayor Carrie Tergin said they will not be making a decision between the two proposals, but they wanted to add the discussion to the council agenda to give the public a chance to learn where they are in the process.
In December, two developers presented their plans for the potential redevelopment of 32 acres of property at Missouri State Penitentiary the state conveyed to the city in 2018.
The land is between the historic site and Chestnut Street, as well as some right-of-way areas and the old shoe factory, the second-oldest building on the prison site.
Redevelopment of the site has been on the mind of the city since the late 1990s, when prisoners were still on site.
In 1999, a 24-member task force was created and was made up of city, state, county and local civic organization representatives to create a plan for the redevelopment of the 142-acre site once the inmates were moved, which would eventually happen in 2004. They anticipated legislation would be introduced in 2001 to establish redevelopment guidelines, and they would begin redevelopment in summer 2001.
Redevelopment did not occur at that time, and the plans were set aside until the conveyance.
The city formed the Missouri State Penitentiary Community Partners shortly after the land was conveyed, made up of city, county and state representatives. The MSPCP planned to use the MSP Master Plan, created by the original task force in 2001, as a guide.
In August 2019, the Jefferson City Council approved a developer performance agreement for the prison, which detailed what the MSPCP hoped to see on the site. By the Dec. 1, 2019, deadline, two developers had submitted proposals — local Farmer Companies and a St. Louis-based group made up of Chesterfield Hotels, Arcturis, Peckham Architecture and Central Missouri Professional Services.
The city must select a developer within two years of the land conveyance, according to an agreement between the city and state. That deadline is coming up in July. The city must also start construction within four years.
Tergin said they are not to the point of making a decision yet, and even when a decision is made, that isn’t the end of the process.
“After the selection is made, there will still be opportunity to continue to move forward with more in-depth details about the proposed plan,” Tergin said. “There is opportunity. We have the proposed plan and concept, and there is opportunity to discuss further with what would be the best fit. There is some flexibility moving forward.”
Part of that flexibility comes from the proposals themselves.
The Farmer Company proposal includes two options.
Both would include development of an outdoor space on the MSP site and a convention center next to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel the company is currently constructing on the site of the former St. Mary’s Hospital, at the intersection of Missouri Boulevard and U.S. 50.
Option A would be a 25,000-square-foot convention center, and the MSP site would become the Veterans Memorial Athletic Complex.
The MSP site would be turned into artificial turf fields for soccer or other sports and a walking trail. The number of fields would be determined by the size.
Option A includes around 400 structured or garage parking spaces and 200 surface parking spaces at the convention center, and two parking lots near MSP with a total of about 170 spots.
Option B focuses on a convention center double the size and a park space at MSP.
The 50,000-square-foot convention center would be two stories — an expo hall on the lower floor with high ceilings and an office-style convention center on the second floor. The second floor would also include a prep kitchen.
At the MSP site, a large park would take up the space with walking trails and playgrounds. There would also be a built-to-suit restaurant near the river.
“The Farmers have given two slightly different proposals for what they would see on the site,” Tergin said. “So, yes, there is an opportunity to discuss whether it is the soccer field complex or the park concept.”
The Chesterfield and Arcturis group proposal includes development of a new hotel and conference center on the MSP site.
In future developments, other amenities included in the December presentation such as a museum, mixed-use buildings and an office building could be added.
The mixed-use buildings could house retail and office spaces, as well as some apartments on the upper levels of one building for young professionals, while potential town homes could offer spaces for families or older residents.
Providing housing to a city with what many have called a “housing crisis,” especially post-tornado, gives the Chesterfield plan the potential to fill more needs than the conference center.
“They understand that there is a need in the community, so they tried to put things in their proposal that would satisfy some needs,” Tergin said. “The housing aspect is something that they are aware of that is of interest to our community, and especially more so after the tornado and in that immediate area as well.”
The preliminary plan also included some public spaces like small parks and a sculpture plaza, as well as greenway trails and a quad area in the center of the prison buildings with an outdoor performance pavilion.
Because this development is larger, it could be done in phases, Tergin said.
“Any portion of that could be phased in,” she said. “I think they highlight the initial phase — the hotel and conference center — as being an anchor to the site and then the other potential uses.”
Determining what elements of the original proposal are eventually built would be part of the flexibility of that proposal.
“There’s flexibility in both. They both allowed a level of further discussion with council to see what they would like to see,” Tergin said. “There’s flexibility remaining in both plans, due to the nature of what they have submitted.”
Tergin said even after the council chooses one proposal, nothing is set in stone.
“Whoever we pick, we are not signing a marriage certificate,” she said. “This only takes us to the next level. We’re still in the phase of looking at the financial components and the specific development components they have proposed for the site.”
The process will also allow for time for potential public engagement, once additional details can be shared by the council.
Either way, Tergin said, the impact of the project on the community is huge.
“It’s a very large and unique opportunity and project, and ultimately what we will do now has the potential to lead to growth for our community for generations to come, for many years to come,” Tergin said.
The Jefferson City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the City Council Chambers at 320 E. McCarty St. An agenda for the meeting can be found through the City Clerk page of www.jeffersoncitymo.gov. Meetings are also live-streamed on the City of Jefferson YouTube page.