Chrysler site analysis to move forward
St. Louis Business Journal
September 3, 2010
By Diana Barr
A group of local business developers have made an offer to buy the shuttered Chrysler plant in Fenton, but the St. Louis County Economic Council and other state and local entities are moving ahead with a $2.1 million market analysis.
Denny Coleman, president and CEO of the St. Louis County Economic Council, announced the development Wednesday at the council's annual meeting.
Coleman said the county is currently in discussions with a consortium of developers who have submitted an offer to purchase the property. Capstone Advisory Group is the executor working to sell the old Chrysler Corp.'s remaining assets to the satisfaction of the bankruptcy court, and Capstone decides who buys the site.
Coleman did not identify the developers, but said that the deal would bring to fruition County Executive Charlie Dooley's vision for the property as a business park for alternative and renewable energy technology.
In July, Dooley talked about an alternative energy park being the kind of development that would be a good fit for the site. At that time, state and local officials had issued a request for qualifications for a firm to analyze and develop strategies for creating a multi-use commercial, industrial research park or renewable alternative energy technology park on the site. The market analysis was set to cost about $2.1 million and be funded by a mix of federal, state and local funding.
Eight finalist teams then were given an Aug. 27 deadline to submit their proposals for the study. Coleman said Thursday that the study is moving forward.
"One part of the study deals with the site itself, while it also looks at the economic impact on the whole region," Coleman said.
He cited statistics showing that of the 7,000 or so workers who had worked at Chrysler's Fenton plants, about a third lived in St. Louis County while two-thirds came from surrounding counties, including Jefferson, Franklin, Crawford and Gasconade.
"We knew from layoffs at McDonnell Douglas in the '90s that people great distance for employment, especially in manufacturing," Coleman said.
He said that even if an alternative energy development was landed for the site, the broader market study would look at what kind of retraining and retooling might be needed so that workers would qualify for the new jobs.
Coleman said Thursday that a project manager to lead efforts to find new uses for the former Chrysler plant would still be hired. Late last month, the St. Louis County Economic Council had said it was accepting resumes for someone to fill that position for 18 months to two years.
Coleman said the project manager would be involved in the broader work of figuring out what's needed to revitalize the site for the region's benefit.
Coleman said Thursday he's not aware of any purchase bid deadline having been set by Capstone. He pointed out that even if the bid by the local developers is successful, it would take time to complete financing and sign tenants.
While St. Louis County would like an alternative energy park at the Fenton site, the decision rests with Capstone. "From the seller's standpoint, they want a buyer with the capability to close the sale and pay the price," Coleman said. "Unfortunately, Capstone was given no direction (by Chrysler's bankruptcy court) to consider the impact on the community from a sales standpoint. But I'm sure they'd just as soon sell it to someone who would bring jobs to the site."
Coleman said one reason an alternative and renewable energy business park is being sought for the site is, "the Department of Energy is putting tens of millions of dollars into these alternative energy companies, and we feel the Chrysler plant is primed for this type of usage. It could bring the types of jobs with the numbers we're looking for at that site.
The North assembly plant in Fenton produced Dodge Ram pickup trucks until it closed in July 2009. Chrysler's South plant, which made minivans, closed in October 2008. The 300-acre site has sat vacant since Chrysler shut down all operations there in fall 2009.
Earlier this year, Ed Montgomery, then President Barack Obama's car czar, visited Fenton to announce $1.6 million in federal funding for an environmental study to kick-start the re-use of the former Chrysler facility. The state contributed a $262,500 match to the U.S. Department of Commerce grant, and the county and Fenton each allocated $131,250, so the market analysis fund now totals $2.1 million.
