ST. CHARLES — At least $125 million in public aid will be sought by developers of a proposed project along the Missouri River featuring a hotel, marina and canal and a string of condos, shops and restaurants between Interstate 70 and the Family Arena.
The overall cost of the development, called Harbor San Carlos, is expected to exceed $1 billion.
Riverwalk Development attorney Keith Hazelwood said Monday that he expected any tax-increment financing request — in which new tax money generated helps fund related improvements — would be for much less than $125 million. Aid first will be requested from other sources, such as the Army Corps of Engineers and federal economic stimulus dollars, he said.
"We hope we can make a persuasive case (to the corps) for money meant to be used for river types of improvements," Hazelwood said, referring to the dredging of the canal between the river shore and Bangert Island, which is a park just south of the Interstate 70 bridge.
Riverwalk, headed by St. Charles developer Michael Sellenschuetter, unveiled the plan in 2006, but it has been delayed by the recession.
Negotiations with the city over financing will begin soon if the City Council approves a resolution designating Riverwalk as the developer for the 300-acre area. The resolution could be voted on at tonight's council meeting.
Sellenschuetter said plans call for work to begin on the canal in 2011 and on an anchor retail store at the north end of the site in 2013. The overall project would take more than 15 years.
"It is going to change the face of this community," he said.
Mayor Patti York, a supporter of the project and a political ally of Sellenschuetter, said she didn't know how much tax-increment money would be needed.
"It could be in stages; he might not need all of it," she said.
York said a key to the project is a planned river walkway similar to one in San Antonio. Once that's built, she said, it will make it easier to attract investors.
Council President Larry Muench said he'd support the resolution designating Riverwalk as the developer but needs more information before committing to city financial aid.
Another councilman, Erv Ermeling, had mixed emotions. "Yes, it would be neat to have something like this," he said. "Do we really need this at this present time in the state we're in now?"
The canal would be 150 to 300 feet wide and stretch about three quarters of a mile. There would be two bridges for pedestrians and bicyclists to the island, which St. Charles County began operating as a park last year.
San Carlos stands for San Carlos Borromeo, the city and county's namesake who was the patron saint of King Carlos of Spain. The area was under Spanish rule in 1791 when the city got the name, which in English is St. Charles.
A $125 million tax-increment subsidy would be the biggest in St. Charles County history, dwarfing the current leader — a $55 million subsidy awarded by St. Charles for a smaller mixed-use project nearby at the site of the old Noah's Ark restaurant. Land has been cleared and construction is expected to begin in a few months.