St. Louis Zoo proposes buying Grant’s Farm; Billy Busch makes competing offer

The St. Louis Zoo may be the owner of Grant’s Farm by December 2016 with some help from a city judge and area residents.

The zoo agreed to buy the park for roughly $30 million if a judge backs four of six August A. Busch Jr. heirs seeking to have the land released from a trust. Anheuser-Busch InBev, which leases the land and operates Grant’s Farm, agreed to donate $27 million toward the purchase.

Meanwhile, dissenting heir Billy Busch has made a comparable offer to keep the animal farm in the family, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Approval of the zoo’s deal would also require voter approval of a new tax in St. Louis city and St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin and St. Charles counties to fund yearly operation costs of $8.5 million.

Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.