CREVE COEUR — The Creve Coeur City Council on Monday unanimously approved a mixed-use redevelopment of the former Bayer campus despite residents' demand for a delay to suggest changes to keep the project from disturbing existing homes.
The council voted 8-0 on the plan by Fireside Financial and its development partner, Jack Matthews Development, to build apartments, townhomes, retail space, hotels, office buildings and other commercial space on 96 acres at 10300 Olive Boulevard. The plan included last-minute changes negotiated only hours earlier by the developers and residents, including an additional tree buffer and reductions in the height and scale of some key buildings.
Mayor Bob Hoffman also said the city would review "every building" proposed for the village before they're built and that residents would be notified immediately to provide their input each time.
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“I will make sure you get the notice the day I get it,†Hoffman said. “And we’ll move forward together to make this the best development we have.â€
The vote came after nearly two hours of public comment in which 11 residents urged the council to delay the vote to give them more time to push for modifications, including more protections for homes whose backyards border the site. The changes negotiated Monday were a positive step forward but didn't go far enough, Rachel Protzel said.
"If you feel that this is the best development that we can get, by all means vote for it but you do so knowing that you do not have our full complete support," Protzel said. "We’re not against the development. We just want to make it better, and we want you guys to feel really good about your vote."
The project, called Olia Village, would transform the landscape in Creve Coeur, a mostly residential suburb of roughly 18,600 people and meet a long-term planning goal for a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development based around a "main street" with space for public events. Fireside is expected to request tax incentives for construction, which would take at least five years to complete.
The Planning and Zoning Commission, after three meetings, voted Oct. 2 to recommended the City Council approve the project, with a requirement to leave a 50-foot buffer of trees between any construction and the property line with existing homes. The buffer the commission recommended was up from a 35-foot buffer Fireside had initially proposed.
But several residents said the city had failed to notify them of the proposed project until September, when it was too late for them to review the project's impacts on their neighborhoods. More than 200 residents signed a petition calling for a green buffer of up to 120 feet and other changes to address concerns including noise and light disturbances, traffic congestion, storm water runoff and multi-story buildings on elevated ground too close to existing houses.
The council on Monday approved adding another 20 feet of tree buffer for the project, on the developer's side of a retaining wall that will be located 50 feet from the homes' backyards and scaling down several buildings. That includes changing the tallest building, an eight-story parking garage, into a six-story parking garage.
Chris Stritzel, a representative of the developers, said Monday that the changes came after "a lot of discussion" with city officials and residents.
But residents said the modifications were the first time they had meaningful input and blasted the city for failing to include residents when Fireside's concept was first presented months ago.
“We found out about this seven weeks ago at a point when it was much too late to make changes in the process,†said Danielle Singer. "Today is the first day we have had meaningful conversation with the developer to address our concerns."
At least three people spoke in favor of the Olia Village project, including Emily Lohse-Busch, executive director of the 39 North Agritech Innovation District, which includes Bayer's east campus and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, among others.
The Olia Village project would be a "critical component" for the district by helping draw in more entrepreneurs and scientists who want to live near where they work, she said.
"They want to know they can build their lives here," she said. "They want to know their families can be a part of this community; they want to know this is a place where they can work, live and play. This development is a really critical component of that."
Plans for the Olia Village project call for four “sub-districtsâ€: a main street of public space, retail and apartments; a mixed-use area; an office district; and a residential district of 65 single-family homes.
Bayer’s sprawling campus crossed both sides of Lindbergh Boulevard and long served as Monsanto’s headquarters before Bayer bought the company in 2018.
The German agriculture conglomerate no longer needed the entire campus as employees shifted to a hybrid schedule during the pandemic. The eastern part of the campus remains Bayer’s North American headquarters.
Edwardsville-based Fireside bought the portion of the site that’s west of Lindbergh Boulevard last year for $55 million, according to ºüÀêÊÓƵ County records.