ST. LOUIS — A plan to flip the Armory entertainment complex into a data center will not be reviewed at a city hearing Thursday.
Investor Rod Thomas asked St. Louis zoning staff for a continuance on his request to build a data center on the parking lot of the shuttered Armory, just south of Interstate 64 near Grand Boulevard in Midtown.
The hearing was to be one of the first public reviews of the proposal after a neighborhood development board discussed the project over the summer. City officials said the developer wanted more time to comply with Mayor Cara Spencer’s new executive order regarding data centers that outlines questions regarding energy use, jobs and impact on neighbors. A new hearing date for the proposal has not been scheduled.
Thomas did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The project is one of two possible data centers Thomas and Armory owner Green Street Real Ventures are eyeing for the site.
Documents filed with the city of St. Louis show that Thomas has signed an option to buy the former National Guard building from Green Street for $25 million. The documents also show both agreed that the best use for the Armory is a data center.
Alderman Michael Browning, whose ward borders but does not include the Armory, opposed the project in a letter posted online, calling it “short-sighted and ultimately detrimental.”
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“The area around the Armory might be uninspiring now, but it is a mistake to reverse course on the careful planning and investment that has been made in this area in recent years,” Browning wrote.
Meanwhile, Alderwoman Laura Keys, whose ward does include the site, declined to comment on the proposal Wednesday. She said she wanted more time to look into the issue.
The site is located within the boundaries of the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp., a group controlled by St. Louis University and SSM Health that oversees development across 400 acres in that neighborhood.
Thomas told the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment board this summer that his proposal would generate $20 million in tax revenue, though he did not detail how. Data centers typically employ few people.
Megan Green, president of the Board of Aldermen, urged the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp. in a letter to hold public hearings to allow residents to air their concerns.
She added that she hopes that the Armory project complies with the executive order, warning that she is open to imposing a moratorium otherwise.
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Steph Kukuljan | Post-Dispatch
Real estate and development
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