Heer’s developer misses incentives deadline

Paperwork-related delays that have pushed back the Heer’s closing date to no later than Nov. 8 were cited as the reason for missing the deadline, according to a Nov. 1 letter from McGowan’s St. Louis attorney, David Richardson. He submitted a draft list of his requested incentives to the city in September.

“The developer continues to work diligently to acquire and redevelop the building, and any delay in providing final notice of incentive programs should not be construed as a lack of enthusiasm regarding this project, but only as a reflection of the developer’s intention to make a complete and comprehensive submittal after consummating its acquisition of the building,” Richardson wrote.

The city agreed to implement approved incentives by Jan. 31, but that deadline will be pushed back the same number of days McGowan is late with his finalized list, according a section of the redevelopment agreement cited by Richardson.

“Developer acknowledges that its inability to deliver this final notice on this date extends the city’s time for performance of the incentive proceedings pursuant to the agreement,” he wrote.

McGowan, co-founder of historic renovation firm McGowan|Walsh, has agreed to buy the vacant downtown building from the city for $3 million. He plans to convert the seven-story structure into either a boutique hotel or block of condominiums above a Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood Restaurant.

The sale was originally expected to close no later than Oct. 27, but efforts to wrangle up invoices for work done by the building’s previous developer Vaughn Prost and a last-minute title company change prompted both parties to postpone the closing date.

Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith said the city recently realized that a significant number of invoices for environmental remediation and demolition work done by Prost were still in the state’s possession. McGowan, however, needs a complete record of the expenditures to obtain financing for the Heer’s project and pursue state and federal historic tax credits, she said.

See SBJ’s Nov. 12 issue for more about the Heer’s closing date.[[In-content Ad]]