Ferguson residents came with plenty of questions Wednesday night to a Q&A at City Hall with the developers behind a proposal to remake the former Emerson Electric campus on West Florissant.
The 217-acre site has been more than 80-percent vacant since Emerson moved to Clayton. It spun off its Copeland division in 2023, leaving the heating and cooling technology company with its 300 employees occupying just 20-percent of the million-square-foot property.
Copeland's Christine Carney has worked on the campus for 20 years.
"The stakes here are really high," she said. "Copeland and its campus are one of the largest contributors to this city, and one of the largest employers."
Carney made clear that without a development partner, Copeland must look elsewhere. "Copeland cannot stay on this site and operate just 20% of it," she said. "It doesn't make sense. It's not financially viable."
Jim Onder, a St. Louis-area attorney, has the campus under contract and is negotiating tax incentives with the city. He's pitching the site as a future hub for green energy companies.
"I want to create it as a center for entrepreneurship, a center for green, environmentally friendly energy and resources," Onder said. "As I've gone around the country, I found so much interest in companies coming to Ferguson. You're an opportunity zone, you're an enterprise zone. There's no other better place for a new company to locate and start up."
Project attorney Ernesto Segura of Husch Blackwell says they want tenants with staying power.
"We're looking to attract job-heavy tenants that are committed to continuing the legacy of Emerson and Copeland on this campus, of being good stewards of the environment, who want to not just come here for a five-year lease, but sign long-term leases, become part of this community."
Onder says his own law firm plans to relocate approximately 50 employees to the campus, and that he intends to be there personally.
The campus already houses a data center, built in 2009, described at the meeting as LEED Gold certified and among the most energy-efficient of its kind when it opened. Neighbors asked their council members to ask how an expansion could change that.
"The Emerson campus right now does have a backup diesel generator that apparently runs 45 minutes a month," Onder said. "It's necessary for maintenance as a backup power source. We think we could have power redundancy without the use of generators or anything of that nature that's gonna make noise. I'm gonna be on campus. I don't like noise."
On water, Onder said the campus operates on a closed-loop water system through a contract separate from Missouri American Water.
The developer's own forecasts are for a windfall for the city. They project 30 to 35 million dollars in revenue over 15 years, compared to Ferguson's annual operating budget of about 18 million.
The city has hired outside experts to conduct an independent fiscal impact analysis, which will be made public as part of the approval of any incentives.
Any tax breaks don't kick in until the developer hits job creation levels and a minimum capital investment of 175 million dollars.
Carney said she understands concerns but believes inaction carries its own risks. "My worry is it not being done at all," she said. "Not trying leaves it vacant, and that's not an outcome any of us want."
A public hearing is required before the city can approve any incentives.
Copeland says it can't stay without a partner
