SEVEN TENANTS

The St. Clair Regional Airport will have seven tenants very shortly.  This is an important   point.  

With everything that is involved with the airport, it is almost at full occupancy.  With Washington having  a waiting list of over a dozen, and Sullivan has about five on their waiting list,  it is clear that there is a demand for hangars in the region.  Over a dozen aircraft have moved out of St. Clair to other airports, and with seven still on the field, it is clear that there is more of a demand for hangars than there is for new retail space in St. Clair. 

The city has spent millions of taxpayers’ money to develop new retail space in the redevelopment area, but the new auto parts store is not going there.   One important point of a TIF and a redevelopment plan is to show that the plan is feasible.  

The following paragraph is from the St. Clair redevelopment plan.

e. A cost benefit analysis showing the economic impact of this Redevelopment Plan on each taxing district that is at least partially within the boundaries of the Redevelopment Area and showing the impact on the economy if the project is not built and is built pursuant to this Redevelopment Plan and including a fiscal impact study on every affected political subdivision and containing sufficient information from the selected redeveloper for the City’s TIF Commission to evaluate whether Redevelopment Project 1 as proposed is financially feasible;

What the city has not demonstrated is a demand for the redevelopment.  The redevelopment plan that the city has produced could be used for any parcel of real estate in the state.   What is not produced in the redevelopment plan is the demand for retail space.  Without the demand, the project is not feasible. 

It is clear that there is a larger demand for an airport in St. Clair than there is for another shopping mall.