City+Arch+River 2015 Foundation

St. Louis, Missouri

The CAR 2015 Foundation formed in 2008 to host an international design competition to re-think and upgrade the Gateway Arch grounds along the central Mississippi Riverfront in downtown St. Louis. A team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh & Associates was selected, and the accepted design is under construction, both on the Arch Grounds and in it boundary areas with a complete change in the transportation and pedestrian network. Most construction will be complete by October 2015, the 50th anniversary of the Arch’s completion.

A key purpose of the redesign is to attract more tourists and to retain them for longer periods of time both on the Arch Grounds and in the downtown environment. Development Strategies prepared the economic analysis to test various visitor scenarios that helped to justify the almost half-billion dollars in investment underway. Related studies by Development Strategies also helped the project capture a $20 million TIGER grant for highway improvements and to secure a ten-year regional sales tax increase supporting improvements to Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard directly on the riverfront.