Missouri Athletic Club announces $2.4M energy-efficiency retrofit with Set the PACE St. Louis
In a morning press conference, the Missouri Athletic Club announced a $2.4 million energy-efficiency retrofit of their iconic downtown St. Louis landmark building, using PACE financing through Set the PACE St. Louis.
Property improvements on the iconic landmark will include heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) upgrades, state-of-the-art energy management controls, and other high-efficiency measures which are projected to generate more than $200,000 in annual energy savings.
"The City's stock in old buildings cannot keep up with demands for energy efficiency without some major retrofits, which can be expensive," said Mayor Francis Slay (top image). "We created Set the PACE St. Louis to ease the burden and encourage savings—both financially and environmentally—for business owners to use."
"There really aren't any downsides with energy performance upgrades," said Byron DeLear (middle left) of Energy Equity Funding, program administrator for Set the PACE St. Louis. "We've had 12 successful projects, including an award-winning solar installation at Four Muddy Paws, where the property owner is now benefiting from the capital investment because the project is ultimately paying for itself."
"There are challenges in maintaining a building of this age," said MAC President Brent Kaniecki (middle right). "The PACE program has made it possible for our Club to lead on this issue by serving as a model for other local businesses to make energy-efficient upgrades of their own."
"Our downtown clubhouse was the first building west of the Mississippi to have air conditioning, and it has those original, custom-built air handlers," said Wally Smith, general manager of the MAC. "When we were made aware that we could pay for upgrading our systems with energy savings, it really was a 'no-brainer' for us. Set the PACE St. Louis fulfilled a need that's going to ensure the preservation of the City landmark for generations to come."
"We became a Set the PACE St. Louis 'Program Ambassador' because we see the PACE concept as a great way to deploy energy-savings performance services to the private sector," said Scott Hardwick, contracting solutions manager for Trane, which is providing project management and energy-efficient systems and services for the MAC.
Set the PACE St. Louis supports an "open-finance model," which allows local lenders, banks, and other funding sources to participate in project financing. A local funding source—Jefferson Bank and Trust—is providing project financing for the MAC, and as a St. Louis-based institution, has the added benefit of keeping the flow of capital within the community.
The cornerstone of the Missouri Athletic Club Downtown Clubhouse was dedicated in a ceremony in 1915 with its doors opening for business the following year. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the property is a rare example of a building that has never changed its primary purpose or use for 100 years.
