Health care company Centene Corp. backed out of plans yesterday to become an anchor tenant in Baltimore-based Cordish Co.'s proposed Ballpark Village in St. Louis, a mixed-use entertainment and residential district to be built next to the new Busch Stadium.
Cordish Co. Chairman David S. Cordish said yesterday that Centene's announcement will not delay or otherwise change the $650 million project Cordish Co. is developing with the St. Louis Cardinals. Ballpark Village is to include about 450,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, 1,200 residential units, 300,000 square feet of offices and 2,000 parking spaces on six city blocks.
Cordish said Centene had belatedly expressed interest in relocating its headquarters from the St. Louis suburbs to Ballpark Village after the project had been designed and was preparing to break ground. Centene planned to move its headquarters with 1,200 jobs to the village. "It is not any setback for the development, none," Cordish said. "In fact you could argue that we would have had less retail/ entertainment, which was one of the problems in making it work, in exchange for office. But it would have been a good corporate new addition, so we tried."
Centene issued a statement yesterday saying Ballpark Village could not accommodate its plans, "which we deeply regret and are disappointed to announce. ... Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we could not bring our plans to fruition."
Cordish Co. was awarded the project by the Cardinals in 2005, the first of several that involved partnerships with professional teams to develop mixed-use projects around sports venues.
Cordish said the development team and the city had held up plans to see if the project could accommodate Centene.
"It turned out to be too complicated; we couldn't do it," Cordish said. "Obviously we lost a few months in trying to see if we could make them fit. But everything is on target. The original project is unchanged."
Cordish said the developers are not seeking another major corporate tenant to replace Centene, although the project may end up with a hotel or small office building.
The St. Louis Cardinals, in a joint statement with the Cordish Co., said the developers will "work immediately with the city and state to finalize all public approvals and commence construction of Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village partnership is in the unique position of having its private financing in place, and we are ready, willing, and able to proceed."
lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com