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But the downtown entertainment venue, jointly developed by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Cardinals and The Cordish Cos., will offer ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ much more in the future.

Construction on Ballpark Village’s second phase, adding office, residential and retail spaces, officially kicked off on Thursday.

With plans for a 297-unit apartment building, a 216-room hotel and the first new office building built downtown in 30 years, Blake Cordish promised the next phase would transform Ballpark Village from an entertainment district “into a dynamic, vibrant, 24/7 neighborhood.�

The Cordish Cos. vice president joined Cardinals owners and city dignitaries to pose with ceremonial shovels in the Ballpark Village parking lot that will be busy with construction crews and equipment for the next two-and-a-half years. Already, a crane is in use and construction professionals were getting to work.

“The impact of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Cardinals on our city is so significant, not only from an economic standpoint, but from a cultural standpoint,â€� ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Mayor Lyda Krewson told those gathered in the Fox Sports Midwest Live! Ballpark Village venue.

Cardinals officials took the opportunity to introduce portions of the $260 million project to the community. They confirmed that accounting firm PwC will move its downtown offices from the Bank of America Plaza a block away to anchor the 10-story, 117,000-square-foot office building, planned to open in mid-2019. The co-developers had previously identified PwC as an anchor tenant in presentations to investors, .

And Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III explained that while the organization doesn’t want to sound self-righteous by talking about the “Cardinal way� too much, “we just couldn’t resist� naming the new street through the development Cardinal Way and the 29-story apartment tower “One Cardinal Way.�

The expansion also includes plans for an eight-story on the west end of Clark, a project announced in October that added a new component to the project from what was initially envisioned and a two-story retail building just behind the old Busch Stadium infield. The retail building will be anchored by Onelife Fitness, which operates almost 50 facilities around the country, including one in Kansas City next to The Cordish Cos.’ Power & Light District.

“It takes a village to make a village,â€� DeWitt said, thanking city officials such as Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed and former ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Mayor Francis Slay. Slay’s administration helped shepherd through public assistance for the initial, $100 million first phase of Ballpark Village, and

provides as much as $72.7 million from bond proceeds backed by tax dollars generated on the Ballpark Village footprint to the second phase, almost 30 percent of the costs. Including interest payments, it will cost a projected $175 million over 20 years, money generated from taxes at Ballpark Village, to pay down the bonds.

City development officials say they’re confident that the project will still generate net new revenue of about $2 million a year.

The Cardinals and Cordish are financing the rest of the project with $28.4 million in equity and $160 million in debt.

With the final piece of this phase — the office tower — planned for a mid-2020 opening, DeWitt reminded the crowd that there are still future phases on the drawing board, particularly the north end of the site adjacent to Walnut Street.

The Cardinals won’t stop, DeWitt said, “until this whole site is developed.�

Lisa Brown of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.(tncms-asset)1c09839c-be72-11e7-a331-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset)