September Policy Newsletter Special
A open letter regarding the Armory data center proposal, and the future of land use in our city
RE: AB-586691-25 ︳500 Prospect Avenue
As the Alderman for the 9th ward, I write in opposition to the proposal for two new data centers in and adjacent to the Armory. This project is located in the 11th ward, but it has the potential to be detrimental to the entire City through its lack of vision, its questionable economic benefit, and its intensive energy and water demands.
In 1950, the Oakland Expressway had its terminus at Market and Vandeventer, making it one of the busiest intersections in the city. Traffic jams regularly piled up and the City was eager to solve that problem. “Urban Renewal” and the construction of what is now Interstate 64 saw the mass demolition of neighborhoods from Midtown to Downtown, erasing communities and cleaving the city into two.
We have now spent decades trying to correct that mistake, and there has been good progress. Approving the conversion of the Armory and its neighboring properties into a dead space with minimal jobs and a lack of foot traffic would go against sound planning practices, and kill the momentum of the area. There is a reason the city’s Planning Commission, well aware of this proposal, voted unanimously to recommend a moratorium on data centers until we have the proper zoning regulations to ensure they fit with the vision for the future of St. Louis.
City Vision
This proposal is for a cluster of data centers, including the recently rehabilitated Armory, located just south of the successful Foundry development, and just to the west of the Grand MetroLink and 70 Grand MetroBus station. It is an area of the city that has seen progress and investment motivated by a vision of a reconnected city, with more investment on the way.
The proposed “Armory Tech District” is a short-sighted and ultimately detrimental proposal. The use contradicts the recently adopted Strategic Land Use Plan which designates this site as Central Area West and discourages “most industrial uses, especially those that create divisions between neighborhoods.” This proposal is incompatible with the SLUP’s goal of creating mixed-use, urban, walkable areas.
While the area currently suffers from an elevated highway, the Central Power Substation, the railyard, and the Grand Viaduct, these are all the result of past decisions whose neighborhood impacts we are now trying to overcome. To the north of this site, the rehabilitation of the old Federal Mogul foundry has been transformative. It has brought a movie theater, food hall, shops including a grocery store, residential buildings and offices. The planned Spring Avenue viaduct, which aims to bridge the highway between the Foundry and the Armory and the Grand MetroLink/MetroBus station, would further connect these spaces. Creating a dead zone in the form of two data centers would be harmful to the continued success of the area. The Brickline Greenway is also planned to come through, right next to the Armory, a substantial infrastructure investment that has been in the works for years.
Economic Benefit
The proposal’s economic benefit is unclear and appears to be primarily tied to the initial construction of the project. The fact sheet that was provided claims a projected tax revenue of $182.6 million to the City of St. Louis “within the first 10 years,” which breaks down to about $18 million a year, but says nothing of the return for the city after that period.
The proposal claims it will produce “250-300 high-skilled technology and engineering positions over 5 years,” but there is no information about whether those are full-time, permanent positions located on-site that will go beyond the short 5 year timeline. Information gathered from data center projects across the country suggests that while there is a small surge in construction jobs in the beginning, once the project is finished it will be a large footprint with minimal workers. The estimated annual payroll of $3.8 million suggests no more than 40-50 full-time jobs. If the District operates 24/7 with a workforce split between the two buildings, with at least two shifts of day and night, that could result in as few as 12 people per building at any time, leaving the large area as empty as it is now.
Energy and Water Consumption
The City is in the middle of updating its zoning code, so this proposal comes at a time when the code does not treat data centers for the type of development they are. The current code was last updated in the 1950’s, and could not conceive of data centers and their demands on energy and water. Instead, the code treats data centers as warehouses, which they are not. Data centers have the potential to use a tremendous amount of electricity and water. The increased power consumption may use existing infrastructure, but it will demand the production of more energy.
The Missouri government just passed legislation allowing utility companies to pass the cost of building new infrastructure and production onto the consumer through their utility bills. Increased energy consumption by this data center has the potential to result in higher energy bills for St. Louis residents. Similarly, the increased demand for water could put a strain on our old infrastructure that is already at a breaking point. More information is needed to determine the true cost of this proposal and the potential impacts to critical infrastructure.
Conclusion
As the representative for the nearby Forest Park Southeast neighborhood and Cortex District, I have seen first hand the efforts to convert old industrial sites into active multi-use areas that bring new economic activity. The past several decades of the City’s planning has been to undo the mistakes of the past, relink areas through multi-modal connections, and turn industrial uses in the core of our city into places where people can live, work, and play.
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. Doubling down on poor land use, a lack of activity, and an inhospitable environment is the same line of thinking that brought us the highways that tore our city apart. The Armory Tech District will not save this area or the city. Instead, it will become the Void of Midtown, where the only sound is the constant drone of the data centers. St. Louis should not throw out best planning practices and sell out its community in exchange for some temporary jobs and vague promises. I urge all those who care about the future of St. Louis City to oppose this permit. Decisions about data centers should be delayed until the City can establish appropriate regulations that prioritize people instead of nameless tech companies.
