St. Louis’ board of aldermen has agreed to purchase real estate properties for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency using a $20 million financing package, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
Nicholas Pistor writes the board voted 18-9 to raise funds by placing two city buildings under a loan agreement.
“We are dedicated to retaining the NGA’s 3,100 well-paying jobs,†said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.
“If we are successful, it also means adding a $1.6 billion project and hundreds of construction jobs in the city while also keeping millions of tax dollars in state and local economies,†Slay added.
NGA plans to relocate over the next 10 years from south of the Anheuser-Busch brewery, according to the report.
Otis Williams, executive director of the city’s development corporation, said $7 million of the package would go to the debt refinancing for a city property at 1520 Market, Pistor reports.
Williams added that the city would use the remaining balance to pay for acquisition expenses and site preparation, the publication reports.
