CLAYTON — Clayton School District leaders offered several reasons Wednesday for wanting to buy the 9-acre Caleres property, after apologizing for a lack of transparency surrounding the multi-million-dollar deal.
The district needs additional space for programs like robotics and alternative education. Private development of the site could create “various nuisances or complications for the district.” And acquiring the property would provide a security buffer between Clayton High School and the surrounding area.
“Acquisition of this site is not only about our current reality but, more importantly, the programming needs across the district that we want to enhance in the coming years to continue as a top-ranked school district both locally and nationally,” said district spokesman Luke Heitert in an email.
In a letter to the community Tuesday, the school board apologized for a lack of information and said the property could be resold to a developer after the deal closes in February.
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“We are aware that our initial communication was inadequate, and we apologize for the misstep,” reads the letter.
Board secretary Gary Pierson, a Clayton attorney, did not sign the letter. Pierson has recused himself from the Caleres property discussions because another attorney at his firm Capes Sokol represents the seller, the district spokesman said.
Many of the questions surrounding the real estate deal have centered around the school district’s decision to eliminate a source of tax revenue.
The board’s letter said “all options for this property are on the table, including informal proposals which we have received since our announcement that could return all or parts of this property to the tax roll.”
Caleres paid more than $1 million in property taxes last year, with about half going to the school district. The current appraised value of the property, which the company has been trying to sell since 2021, is $33.5 million, according to Ƶ County records.
The board members wrote that they hope the acquisition “will open doors for collaborative projects with the City and other stakeholders, including third-party developers, in order to create spaces which mutually serve our students and the broader community.”
Michael Staenberg of the Staenberg Group real estate firm has talked with board president Amy Rubin about his desire to create something similar to the firm’s entertainment venue The Hub in Chesterfield. The retail project could bring in $25 million to $30 million in annual sales taxes, Staenberg said.
The Jan. 2 announcement of the district’s purchase of the Caleres property was met with swift consternation on social media and in letters of opposition from the Clayton Condo Building Association, a coalition of four former city mayors and a group of residents led by broadcast personality Charlie Brennan.
Most of the concerns dealt with future costs to residents and the lack of information about what the school district called the “Empowerment Campus Project.”
“I think it’s a big, bold purchase without details and I think the people who pay for it should have details, that’s just good government,” Brennan said. “Maybe they just see some contiguous property and they’re thinking let’s take advantage of this rare opportunity. But when you’re running a public school system you have to be upfront and you have to have your plan.”
Softball fields, tennis courts or other “nonsensical proposals” that have been the subject of rumors are not under consideration for the 9-acre site at 8300 Maryland Ave., according to the board’s letter.
The district is looking for a new location for the Greyhound Alternative Program for nontraditional students, the spokesman said. The board’s letter also suggested the possibility of enlarging the Clayton High School campus, which is adjacent to the Caleres property at 8300 Maryland Ave.
“Many school districts strategically acquire land adjacent to their buildings for security reasons. A common approach is to enlarge the perimeter of the school campus, often extending to nearby roadways to eliminate structures close to campus. This additional land becomes a buffer against potential security threats,” the letter reads.
Clayton spokesman Heitert did not provide any examples of school districts that have acquired land for security reasons.
“While we would not consider it our place to specify the reasons behind individual purchases, a quick polling of districts around the Ƶ County area would undoubtedly illustrate that the purchase of property (or consideration of the purchase of property) adjacent to schools is a fairly common practice. This is even more true for districts as landlocked as ours,” Heitert said.
Enrollment in the district grew by 59 this year to 2,427 students in kindergarten through 12th grades. Total enrollment is down 9% from a high of 2,681 students in 2018.