Monday, July 26, 2010

Will The $44 Million Loop Trolley Project Bring $2.8 Billion of Investment to St. Louis?


 
 Today I received an email from the St. Louis Urban Corps regarding taking a poll about The Loop Trolley.  There was one question, and my answer was as follows:
 
"Will the St. Louis Trolley Project yield benefits for the city worthy of the $44 million price tag?"

I chose answer: "Yes, I believe it will."

The other answer choices were:  "No, I don't think it will." and "Not sure, but it's worth spending money to find out."

I derived my answer from what Portland experienced as a result of investing in a streetcar project for their city.  From the Portland Streetcar Concept Plan, the first 2.4 miles of the Portland Streetcar system was constructed at a cost of $55 million:

 
In Portland, in 2001, they opened the first 2.4 miles of their modern streetcar line.  By 2008, private developers had invested $3.5 billion within two blocks of the alignment, including over 10,000 new housing units and 5.4 million square feet of office, institutional, retail and hotel construction. [Portland Streetcar System Concept Plan, 1-1].  
 
 The Loop Trolley is different than the Portland system, because Portland's first alignment connected two employment centers:  Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Portland State University.  Obviously, The Loop Trolley is connecting leisure and entertainment centers:  Forest Park, the Missouri History Museum, and the Delmar Loop.  

Therefore, private money may not flow as fast along The initial Loop Trolley alignment.  Weekday ridership may be more attractive to private investors.  The Loop Trolley ridership may be elevated only on the weekends, and not during the weekdays.   

A few brave investor souls, however, may invest in developing office space and housing units along the initial Loop Trolley alignment, especially along the eastern section of Delmar Boulevard, past the Pageant to DeBaliviere.  Thereby, increasing ridership during the weekdays. 

Portland's initial investment of $55 million essentially appreciated 63.63% to $3.5 billion of investment along their streetcar alignment.  Can St. Louis realize an appreciation of $44 million to $2.8 billion?

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