Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster filed suit Sept. 7 against Ballpark Lofts I LLC, a St. Louis company operated by former Heer's developer Kevin McGowan and a business partner.
The suit alleges that Ballpark Lofts I - owned by McGowan and Nathaniel Walsh - obtained $2.4 million in state tax credits to defray environmental remediation costs for St. Louis redevelopment project Cupples 9, but failed to complete the remediation. According to a news release from Koster's office, an environmental consultant hired by Ballpark Lofts submitted a report to the state on the developers' behalf claiming remediation work had been completed.
The Cupples 9 property, a redevelopment of a historic warehouse near Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis, was sold via foreclosure sale to the Creve Coeur-based Koman Group in March 2011. The group plans to open the building this fall, according to its
website.
Prior to the sale, Ballparks Lofts' redevelopment plan called for a removal of all lead-based paint at the site. By June 2010, the Missouri Department of Economic Development had issued $1.8 million in tax credits to Ballpark Lofts based on documentation it submitted showing remediation costs. After the environmental consultant hired by Ballpark Lofts submitted the report to the state, the DED issued the final $604,754, according to the release.
The suit claims Ballpark Lofts sold the tax credits to a third party, which prevents the state from canceling them. The third party wasn't named in the release.
After failing to obtain financing, McGowan scrapped his $29.3 million redevelopment plans for the Springfield Heer's building in late 2010, saying the risk outweighed the reward. McGowan reportedly bought the property from the city for $3 million in 2007 and later sold it to Indian Wells, Calif.-based Chouteau Properties Inc. with an agreement that he would buy it back after project completion, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.[[In-content Ad]]
