Construction costs rise $10M on proposed St. Louis Rams stadium

Dive Brief:

The estimated cost of the new St. Louis Rams stadium is now at $1.01 billion, after an increase in construction costs of $10 million. The cost increase is outlined in the new St. Louis Board of Aldermen stadium financing bill. The stadium task force chalks up the extra expenses to current pricing and already-paid development bills, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The state stadium authority would issue $80 million in bonds to cover new costs. According to the bill, the state would pay the annual debt principal on the bonds if the city doesn’t collect enough tax revenue from games to pay it themselves. However, if the city collects more than enough game-day revenue — which includes taxes on ticket, hot dogs and beer — to make the payments, it would pay the state back with 5% interest.
The task force in its bill provided a breakdown of both increases and reductions in stadium costs including: actual building construction ($25 million); site development ($7 million); site clearing, demolition and cleanup added ($17 million); parking garage (-$15 million) and business relocation (-$6 million). So far, the project has incurred stadium planning costs of $13 million.

Dive Insight:

Some state legislators expressed concern that the revised bill would try to obligate Missouri to incorporate the bond debt payments into the state budget.

Sen. Rob Schaaf told the Post-Dispatch, "They can’t force us to do that. If that is what they’re intending to do, that’s pretty disgusting."

The new stadium is part of a plan to keep Rams owner Stan Kroenke from moving the NFL team to Los Angeles. The stadium has made news lately for a minority hiring plan that proponents called "transformative." The plan requires 25% minority participation; sets aside money to guarantee loans; provides administrative assistance; expedites payment to minority, women and veteran-owned businesses; creates an electronic database of minority workers to be used on the stadium and other public projects and hiring goals for local residents.

Earlier this year, the St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council said it would permit a plan for round-the-clock work on the new stadium project, would could save the city $45 million. Scheduling three eight-hour shifts each weekday would eliminate overtime costs, as the city would try to construct the 64,000-seat outdoor stadium in just two years.