Ten people protested Monday outside the Laclede Gas Building against a plan to provide more than $8 million in public assistance to help the utility move its headquarters elsewhere downtown.
The 20-minute protest was aimed at a developer’s proposal to renovate the empty building at 700 Market Street as Laclede’s new headquarters. Part of the proposal by The Koman Group is $8.1 million in tax-increment financing for the $46.4 million renovation.
Laclede Group would occupy the entire building, a distinctively shaped structure designed in the 1970s by architect Philip Johnson. The company has yet to confirm a move from the Laclede Gas Building, 720 Olive Street, where it has been based since 1970. Koman hopes to renovate the Market Street building, then lease it to Laclede.
Members of Take Back St. Louis, an activist group, are backing a proposed city charter amendment that would ban St. Louis tax incentives for any company that engages in “unsustainable†energy production or does $1 million a year in business with such a company. The St. Louis election board has yet to set the date for when the proposed amendment will go before voters.
People are also reading…
Tax-increment financing allows developers to pay for new commercial projects using some of the taxes created by the developments themselves.
In July, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment submitted more than 36,000 voters’ signatures in support of the ballot measure.
“We want our city green and healthy, no more tax breaks for the wealthy,†the protesters shouted while standing on the sidewalk outside the building.
Police officers inside the lobby blocked protesters from entering the building and refused to accept their letter to company executives.
Arielle Klagsbrun, one of the protesters, said Koman’s plan would do nothing for downtown.
“We’re just shuffling jobs and corporate headquarters,†she said. “What’s going to happen to this building? It’s just a race to the bottom of development.â€
Jenny Gobble, a Laclede spokeswoman, said in a statement that Koman’s TIF request “helps us to focus our current efforts on staying within the city.â€
She noted that Laclede’s move to 700 Market, about 1,000 feet from its current headquarters, would reactivate a building that has been vacant a decade.
“These efforts would revitalize an architectural landmark in the heart of our city,†Gobble said.
The city’s TIF Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday on Koman’s TIF request.
Take Back St. Louis members said they will attend the meeting to speak against the request.
