WHO IS GOING TO BUY IT?

All this has been said by the city, the mayor, or the local news publication at some time in the past.  It kind of started out like this.  

I have a developer standing by to develop the airport.

The city will make 2 million a year in sales taxes.

The airport will clear the way for much needed retail development in St. Clair.

When asked, what is plan “b” if plan “a” does not work?  Plan “b” is to make plan “a” work.  

We are going to sell the airport.  

We are going to market the airport.  

One thing is certain, if the city had a buyer, everyone would know about it.  

The tenants at the airport have been accused of holding the city hostage, this ludicrous propaganda, when in reality, the economic facts of the retail economy is holding the city hostage.  But look at Chesterfield!  The cold hard fact is, St. Clair is not Chesterfield.  The city can try and make plan “a” work, as much as it wants too, but the question still needs to be answered, what happens if the city cannot sell the airport?  

The passing of the St. Clair Airport closure law does not guarantee the closure.  But it does bring the question to the front of the issue.  Where is your buyer?  After almost ten years of trying to find a developer, one has to start to think that a shopping center in today’s retail climate is not going to happen.  

The closure process letter is dated April 7^th 2015, but, almost as month later, the local news publication is reporting that the city needs the closure process to continue.  The next move is up to the city, put up the money.