ST. CHARLES — The city’s purchase of the American Car Foundry Co. property in downtown St. Charles is expected to be finalized next week as the city moves forward to converting the historic property into its new municipal complex.
In April, voters overwhelmingly approved an $85 million bond issue to fund the construction of the new city hall, dubbed the St. Charles City Centre Complex, a sprawling facility with new council meeting chambers, conference rooms, archival space for the St. Charles Historical Center, a senior center, a recreation center, arts and culture space and more.
The current city hall, which St. Charles officials have described as “functionally obsolete,” was built in 1975 and lacks a sprinkler system in some parts, it doesn’t have security features found in other city halls, and there is not enough office space.
In an agreement expected to close on Nov. 27, the city will buy three buildings on the campus of the former American Car Foundry Co., which manufactured city transit buses, rail cars, trolleys and briefly the fuselage section for the B-47 bomber for Boeing Aircraft. The company stopped production in St. Charles in the 1950s.
Larry Dobrosky, St. Charles’ administration director, said the city is paying $11.5 million for properties along North Second Street.
The city plans to open the senior center and recreation center in 625 North Second Street, where the corporate offices for BH America, a fitness equipment company, are located.
The middle building, at 700 North Second Street, will be demolished for the new city hall and a parking garage. The third building, at 714 North Second Street, with its iconic “sawtooth roof line” will be converted into a year-round open-air farmers’ market and additional public parking.
The city is expected to spend $71.5 million on the project; construction is slated to begin in March and is expected to take about two years, Dobrosky said.
Dobrosky said James Unger, the owner of the American Car Foundry Co. property, is retaining the other buildings on the property, but he is working with a third-party developer to repurpose the buildings closest to the Katy Trail.
St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer and others have previously said that developers have eyed that portion of the site for loft-style apartments, restaurants and a 300-room hotel. Unger did not respond to the Post-Dispatch interview requests.
Dobrosky said the property deal has taken months. “There have been some complex negotiations,” he said.
The St. Charles City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal that would freeze at current levels what Unger pays in property taxes for the parts of the American Car Foundry property he will still own.
“The city is about to invest $85 million into property, and the thought process is that as we enhance the city-owned property, that Mr. Unger’s taxes are going to up,” Dobrosky said. He said no taxing districts will lose money on this deal, as the city will pay the difference from the bond funds.
“He didn’t want to get penalized for all that the city is doing to build the new city center complex,” Dobrosky said. The deal is valid for five years or until Unger sells the remaining property.
In exchange for this property tax freeze, the city ultimately paid Unger $2 million less than the $13.5 million price tag voters approved in April.
“We paid a little less upfront and we also got some additional right-of-way and parking that is going to help this project moving forward,” Dobrosky said.
