County mediated Edward Jones deal: Charlie Dooley pushed for meeting to find a resolution
From the St. Louis Business Journal 08/24/07Charlie Dooley pushed for meeting to find a resolution
by Lisa R. Brown
The standoff between Edward Jones and the city of Des Peres that stretched on for most of the summer and stymied the investment brokerage firm's headquarters expansion plans was both heated and public. Behind the scenes, St. Louis County officials had a big hand in helping broker the deal reached Aug. 13, according to those close to the negotiations.
The two sides seemed to be at a stalemate when the city of Des Peres passed a building moratorium in February and Edward Jones responded with a lawsuit. The clash that could have led to a lengthy court battle for one of St. Louis' largest privately held companies and employers was settled this month when the Des Peres Board of Aldermen approved Edward Jones' revised expansion plan.
"Neither side got 100 percent of what they wanted, but that is by its definition, a compromise," said Des Peres Mayor Rick Lahr.
At stake was the potential loss of hundreds of new jobs for St. Louis County and the region. Edward Jones, which employs about 3,500 locally, is looking to add 10,000 financial advisers worldwide in the next decade, requiring the hiring of as many as 1,000 additional support services employees in St. Louis through 2017.
Edward Jones' original $260 million expansion plan included three buildings totaling 650,000 square feet at its 60-acre campus at the southeast corner of Interstate 270 and Dorsett Road in Maryland Heights and a 291,000-square-foot building addition and a parking garage at its headquarters at Manchester and Ballas roads in Des Peres. The Maryland Heights portion of the project includes the construction of a new $30 million interchange at I-270 and Dorsett Road.
The deal approved by the city of Des Peres last week scaled down the addition in that municipality to about 225,000 square feet. A planned new parking garage will only have four stories above ground instead of six and will be built away from Ballas Road.
Edward Jones chief financial officer Steve Novik said the firm is sticking to its plans to create new jobs in St. Louis County and will add a minimum of 500 new jobs within the next five years and as many as 1,000 new jobs in Maryland Heights and Des Peres in the next decade.
"We always looked at this as a countywide project," said John Nations, an attorney representing Edward Jones. "It was a long process, but Edward Jones always was optimistic they would be able to make the expansion happen here."
Outside of the negotiations, however, the prospect of Edward Jones sending hundreds of new jobs elsewhere loomed as a possibility. County officials, hoping to avoid that situation, came forward in late winter to bring both Edward Jones and Des Peres officials to the table to reach a compromise over density and traffic at the Des Peres site. At the behest of St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, Denny Coleman, executive director of the St. Louis County Economic Council, called a meeting between Des Peres City Attorney Kevin O'Keefe and Nations in February.
"Charlie (Dooley) felt very strongly that, given the importance of Edward Jones not just to the county's economy but the whole region's economy, that we should get directly involved in this to see if we could find a resolution," Coleman said. "There was an unspoken reality that Edward Jones has a sizable and growing campus in Tempe, Ariz., and that a company the size of Edward Jones would be sought after by any community." Coleman and Steve Anderson, vice president of business development at the St. Louis County Economic Council, served as the county's representatives during the negotiations.
Even as the public disagreement over the size and scope of Edward Jones' expansion waged on through the spring and summer, the sides were working on reaching a deal.
Coleman, Novik and Des Peres City Manager Doug Harms met regularly to work on a compromise. "They were getting very close over the last couple of months," Coleman recounted. Progress on the talks appeared halted in mid-June when the Des Peres Board of Aldermen did not put the issue on the board's agenda. But the final deal was reached at the end of July, after months of meetings, both public and private. Edward Jones has since dropped its lawsuit.
Nations, a partner with the Nations, Hettenbach & Diehl law firm, represented Edward Jones throughout the negotiations. In recent months, partner John Diehl took on most of the negotiating for Edward Jones. "There are a lot of people who made this happen," Nations said. "It shows the possibilities when public and private sectors partner to improve the region, and the region is the big winner."
From the county's perspective, the compromise is a win-win for the region, Coleman said. "The benefit of Edward Jones having two campuses is that we anticipate that most of any downsizing at Des Peres will be able to be transferred to Maryland Heights. The net impact to St. Louis County will be minimal, but the overall impact on the county is just tremendous."
The St. Louis County Economic Council is accustomed to assisting companies such as Pfizer and Express Scripts with their expansion plans, but never before in this way, Coleman said. "This was the first time we ever had to engage in a facilitator or mediator role in this type of fashion, particularly when there was a dispute with a lawsuit. Usually our role is to make sure things go smoothly from the start. Charlie's directive to me is, even if there are other government entities or municipalities involved, if the project involves a St. Louis County company, to be involved from the beginning and to make sure these situations don't get to this level in the first place."
