• 870 apartments
• 130 for-sale townhomes
• 260 hotel rooms
• 270,600sf of retail space
• 527,950sf of office space
• 5074 parking spaces (3980 in parking garages, 858 surface, and 236 street parking)

The 96-acre project stands to be transformational for Creve Coeur, a suburb of roughly 18,600 residents, said Mayor Robert Hoffman. Fireside is expected to request tax incentives for construction, which would take at least five years to complete.

“This is maybe the largest investment in the city we’ve ever had,” Hoffman said. But more than 200 residents have signed a petition urging the council to delay Monday’s vote, citing concerns about the site’s transition from an office park to a downtown concept, including noise and light disturbances, traffic congestion, storm water runoff and multi-story buildings on elevated ground too close to existing houses. “Where we live, we will clearly see it, hear it and feel it,” said Steve Melnick, who has lived behind the campus for 20 years. “What we’re looking for is to mitigate that.”
Many residents say they support a mixed-use redevelopment of the land but their input has been largely ignored by the city and the developer.

“We want a great development there,” Melnick said. “But we want it done thoughtfully and with our involvement.”
Fireside Financial declined comment Friday. The push from residents echoes a debate over a similar project in Chesterfield, where hundreds of residents complained that a planned mixed-use redevelopment of the former Chesterfield Mall included too much housing and lacked guidelines to ensure a mixed-use concept. Following a series of delays, the City Council approved the plan in September after negotiating changes including less housing and limits on building height.

Olia Village would border neighborhoods along North Spoede Road, including houses that back up to the former Bayer campus. The planned zoning would allow developers to build within 50 feet of residents’ property lines. David Singer, who has lived behind the campus since 2017, said that’s closer than Bayer built them.
“They’re talking about putting a construction site 50 feet from our house,” Singer said. “They have done zero research on how this will affect home values.”

Singer and other residents want the city to extend the buffer and ensure the developers will plant enough trees to block off the development.

Existing plans limit building height in the development to eight stories.
But the land slopes down from Olive Boulevard to the neighborhoods on Spoede Road, and developers plan to grade the land and build a retaining wall near the property line — so the side of the buildings facing backyards will appear much taller than eight stories, Singer said.

Hoffman said the city has made changes in response to residents concerns, including expanding the 50-foot buffer from a 35-foot buffer the developer originally proposed. The Planning and Zoning commission voted unanimously Oct. 2 to make that change and recommend approval of the plan, after three meetings to hear public debate.

goat314 wrote: ↑

Oct 23, 2023

So ridiculous, if they want to live in a rural area they can move. 

kbshapiro wrote: ↑

Oct 24, 2023

goat314 wrote: ↑

Oct 23, 2023

So ridiculous, if they want to live in a rural area they can move. 

Exactly.  The same people will go visit Franklin TN, Carmel IN, Leawood KS, etc and come back home to complain about how St Louis is so far behind these other markets.

kbshapiro wrote: ↑

Oct 24, 2023

Right.  Don’t forget what Webster Groves did to the developer who was going to double the size of Downtown Webster

The Creve Coeur City Council on Monday night approved a developer's plan for part of the Bayer campus, which incorporated some last-minute changes negotiated with residents.
By an 8-0 vote, the council approved a zoning change, site concept plan and phase one site development plan for the 96-acre site, at 10300 Olive Blvd., by partners Jack Matthews Development and Fireside Financial, both based in Edwardsville.

To be called Olia Village, the project, which would repurpose some of the existing office buildings on the campus, includes apartments, retail, office space, restaurants and hotels. The project plans revolve around four subdistricts: a main street with multifamily and retail, a mixed-use subdistrict, an office area and a residential subdistrict with 65 single-family homes. During phase one, developers will clear the site, install utilities and perform roadway construction.
Prior to the vote, the city council opened the floor to public comment, during which several residents asked the council to delay the vote to consider more input and changes, including further restrictions on allowed usage and impact on city services and the school district.
A protest petition had been submitted by more than the required 30% of property owners within 185 feet of the project that would have required approval by two-thirds of the council, or six members, to pass the ordinance. The petition was moot given the council's unanimous vote.
Before the council vote advanced the project, changes were incorporated in an amendment, including some the developer negotiated with residents just prior to the meeting. Those changes include:

• setting a three-story maximum building height and reducing an eight-story garage to six stories;
• adding a 20-foot greenspace on the development's side of a retaining wall that faces a 50-foot buffer;
• removing research and development and stand-alone fitness centers as an allowed usage in the project's office district; and
• limiting to two drive-thru eating and drinking establishments within the entire development, restricted to a single-lane configuration.

Following Monday night's vote, Mayor Bob Hoffman thanked everyone for their input and work on the project. "Remember that we’ve only approved a site concept plan and phase one today," he said. "Every building – every building – will be re-evaluated for approval as it comes up to the city council over the next four to five years, if I’m not mistaken that’s the timetable. So you will have all your input. I will make sure you get the notice the day I get it, I promise that. And we’ll go forward together to make this the best development we have."

City leaders on Monday will consider abating $86 million in real estate taxes, as well as adding a special sales tax, to help developers turning the former Bayer office campus into a "Main Street" development.  
The $985 million project, called Olia Village, calls for apartments, 130 townhouses, retail, hotels, office buildings and park trails on 96 acres at 10300 Olive Boulevard, formerly part of Bayer’s North American headquarters.
Edwardsville-based Fireside Financial and partner Jack Matthews Development are asking Creve Coeur to approve a blight declaration for the campus and abate up to 75% in real estate taxes on new construction for up to 25 years.

The abatements, which would exclude the townhouses, would be worth about $85.7 million in tax revenues generated by improvements to the site, according to developers' estimates. Fireside is also asking the city to create a Community Improvement District that would levy a 1-cent sales tax, for up to 25 years, to help pay for renovations and on-site improvements. City Council will weigh the tax incentives at a public hearing Monday at 7 p.m. at the government center, 300 N. New Ballas Road. The council is expected to take a final vote April 8. 
Mayor Robert Hoffman is in favor of the tax incentives for the project, which he said is an "overall investment" for future revenue. 


"It’s a huge investment in our city and will greatly improve the quality on the east side of Creve Coeur," Hoffman said.
Fireside Financial did not respond to a request for comment.