Today, the Cardinals and the Cordish Companies, held a topping off ceremony for the Pennant Building at Ballpark Village. The celebration was held to celebrate the topping off of the first Class A Office Building in Downtown St. Louis in 30 years. The event was also held to announce a new tenant to the Pennant Building, Clayton based ButcherJoseph and Co.
Before the actual announcement, Bill DeWitt III announced a name change to the office building. PwC was added to the name so the office building is now known as “the PwC Pennant Building”. More details regarding the building got out including Bill DeWitt starting that the building will include Pennants to symbolize the Cardinals and their World Series wins. The decorative features are also meant to tie Busch Stadium into Ballpark Village better.
After DeWitt came Cordish’s Nick Benjamin. He touched on numerous parts of the project such as size, cost and the harsh winter. Despite the winter, the $260 Million second phase is on time and on budget. Benjamin ultimately led the conversation into the PwC part of the ceremony.
PwC St. Louis Managing Partner John Tvrdik spoke next. He talked about why Pricewaterhouse Coopers decided to remain Downtown and be part of the Ballpark Village development. In short, he basically said that he did so because his firm is committed to the city and that Bill DeWitt is a friend of his. According to John, PwC was the lead tenant from the day Phase 2 was announced. Tvrdik was joined by over 100 PwC employees at this event as many will be moving into the PwC Pennant Building when it opens In July.
Other features included in PwC’s space at Ballpark Village include a rooftop deck, a two floor commons area at the Southeast corner of the 10th and 11th Floors. In total, PwC will occupy 50% of the PwC Pennant Building.
Following this, Paric Corporation’s head of Diversity and Inclusion, Howard Hayes talked about how Ballpark Village Phase 2 has exceeded all requirements for Women and Minority contractors and workers. He spoke for a good 10 minutes on the subject and stated how the move would pump millions into minority and women owned businesses in the area.
Then came time for ButcherJoseph’s Paul Tyschen to talk about the move to BPV. The main reasons were because the firm, which specializes in asset management, is quickly outgrowing their space at 101 South Hanley in Clayton. They also wanted to be part of the Downtown Renaissance. His short speech had numerous rounds of applause as ButcherJoseph will be seen as a pioneer in moving back into the renewed Downtown Business District. No word was spoken as to how much space ButcherJoseph will occupy.
Towards the end of the ceremony, Mayor Krewson spoke and celebrated the construction workers and team involved in making Ballpark Village Phase 2 happen. She applauded the jobs that have been created and will be added to Downtown while stressing her support for construction projects citywide.
The completion of Krewson’s remarks led to the hoisting of the final beam into place. It had hundreds of signatures on it, including my own, along with a large banner that reads “the PwC Pennant Building”. It was lifted up to horns blaring and applause of the crowd of about 250.
The Pennant Building will be completed and occupied by late July. The remainder of Phase 2 will all be completed by May 2020.
Below are some photos from today.