Clayton to hold public forums on Centene Project

May 6, 2008

The City of Clayton will hold a special public forum on May 13, 2008 at The Center of Clayton from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. to review a proposal by Centene Corporation to redevelop the one-half block area bounded by Hanley Road, Forsyth Boulevard and Carondelet Avenue into a corporate headquarters campus. In addition, at its May 27, 2008 meeting at Clayton City Hall starting at 7:00 p.m., the Board of Aldermen plans to hold a follow-up public hearing to discuss further specifics of the project.

The city recently announced it had renewed discussions with Centene to remain in Clayton and pursue a significant expansion of its headquarters. This would result in a sizeable increase in the number of employees permanently located in the community.

Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein said that Centene’s proposal in response to the City’s latest initiative is similar to one the company had originally proposed for Clayton in 2005. Preliminary highlights of the Centene proposal are:

• Initial construction of 560,000 square feet of office and 30,000 square feet of retail space.
• LEED certification of the building for “green” purposes.
• A net increase of approximately 800 jobs in Clayton, with a projected total employment count of 1,230 by 2015.
• No use of eminent domain to acquire property.

Although no details are finalized, the city and Centene have discussed various financial incentives if Centene completes the project and creates the projected new jobs. Those incentives include partial tax abatement on real and personal property and sales tax exemption on construction materials. As with the original proposal, a Community Improvement District could also be formed and impose a 1% gross retail sales tax on the building’s retailers.

Goldstein noted that the project will not include any residential components and will, therefore, not increase service level demands on the Clayton School District, but the project is anticipated to increase the District’s revenue stream.

Immediately following the public forum on May 13, the Board of Aldermen will hold its regular meeting at City Hall. At this meeting, the Board will consider authorizing its consultants to begin the necessary research to formalize development terms and a tax impact statement for the taxing jurisdictions.