Dan McGuire, president of McGuire Moving & Storage Co., which occupies a 100-year-old building on the site, has been working on the nearly 15-acre project for more than two years. He has assembled a team of associates and experts who�ve signed on several tenants for the $200 million-plus project, including a Rawlings All American Grille and a Formula One kart-racing track, modeled after F1 Boston in Massachusetts. Other leases are in the works. Also, they�re talking with developers to build housing.

�Our plans are to break ground in December of this year and have it finished by spring or summer of 2006,� he said. �We want to create a district and a destination� that will lure conventioneers, visitors, downtown workers and others from throughout the region.

The Bottle District (www.bottledistrict.com) � with restaurants, stores, residential, a concert hall, a kart-racing track and even a bowling alley operated by developer Joe Edwards � is about to rise on 6 1/2 blocks in downtown St. Louis, just north of the Edward Jones Dome.

Barbara Geisman, deputy St. Louis mayor for development, was �extremely impressed� after reviewing the plans last week. She said the city will consider approving a tax increment financing district to help with paying for new streets and sidewalks as well as 2,500 or so underground parking spaces and other improvements. �It�s a unique development with the potential to generate considerable tax revenue for the city, kick-start development in that part of downtown, complement activity at the convention center and dome, and provide an additional reason for people to choose to have conventions and meetings in downtown,� she said.

The initial wave of construction includes about 300,000 square feet of entertainment, office space and retail space as well as about 1,200 underground parking spaces on three blocks closest to the dome. The cost is estimated at about $65 million for the buildings, designed by Lighthouse Architects, and nearly $30 million for parking.

The owners of Cabo Wabo Cantina, a restaurant with a stage for live entertainment, are considering a move into the building, alongside the concert hall and bowling alley. Rock entertainer Sammy Hagar opened the first Cabo Wabo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There�s another near Lake Tahoe. �We are in discussions,� said Sarah Williams, an executive at Cabo Wabo Enterprises in Berkeley, Calif. �St. Louis is a great niche. Sammy has a great fan base there. ... This is something we definitely would like to see happen.�

Another two-story building nearby will be occupied by a Rawlings All American Grille, part of Rawlings Sporting Goods Co.

Jon Taffer of West Palm Beach, Fla., is chairman of a company that owns the license for the Rawlings restaurants. He said the one in St. Louis, with 30-foot-tall screens for televised sporting events as well as a retail area, will be the third in the country. There are two in Texas.

Taffer, who once owned a restaurant at Union Station, said he got interested in the district after one of its planners visited the Rawlings restaurant at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas.

�At the time, we had been investigating a possible site (for a restaurant) in St. Louis,� he said. After reviewing plans for the Bottle District, he jumped at the chance to open there. �It�s a terrific, fantastic project,� he said. �We have a lot of confidence in Dan McGuire and his team, and we believe it will draw from 400 miles away.�

Meanwhile, the Rawlings restaurant in St. Louis, he said, �will be upscale, with a strong sports motif and a strong retail component where you might buy a bat signed by a baseball celebrity or a basketball signed by a basketball player. ... It�s going to be a source of great pride for St. Louis.�

Taffer Dynamic�s (www.tafferdynamics.com) approach to the development, operation and marketing of food & beverage outlets is based upon solid, proven principles that will radically change the financial performance and asset value of your properties. Effective guest trial and retention is the result of strong operations, appealing facilities and motivating internal marketing programs. The firm offers an array of services including Speaking and Boot Camps, Market Intelligence, Marketing Tactics, Menu Engineering, Concept Development and Operational Rejuvenation.

Media Contact: 
Taffer Dynamics
Terri Cataldo
Marketing & Communications
(561) 687-7550, x 304