So, while we have been sitting here waiting for the inevitable annexation of the Missouri Research Park by Weldon Spring a funny thing happened, the city dropped its bid. It would appear that the city overestimated its ability to provide the necessary services to the tenants. So faced with extensive litigation from the existing tenants within the MRP, especially Nike, Weldon Spring withdrew its petition to the court to allow the proposed annexation to go forward.
However I don't think this issue is over. In the eyes of the local municipalities the MRP is a very tempting target: a huge tax base with minimal need for services (as compared with residential neighborhoods). O'Fallon Missouri already has made one (aborted) attempt to annex the business park and one gets the sense that Weldon Spring has not fully closed the door on their attempt to move the line on the map to encompass the MRP. City officials admitted that they had underestimated the amount of planning necessary to successfully close the annexation and appease the existing tenants. The next time they won't make the same mistake.
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