CREVE COEUR — Residents here criticized city leaders on Tuesday for ignoring their pleas to delay a plan to turn a former office campus into a “main street†development, with apartments, townhomes, hotels, office and retail.
The residents vowed to put more pressure on city officials as the project advances.
“We just wanted to feel heard and protected,†said David Singer, who was among more than 200 residents to sign a petition urging the Creve Coeur City Council to delay approval, citing concerns that residents didn’t have enough time to review the plan.
“Now we know we’re responsible for protecting ourselves,†Singer said. “And we’ll be watching and making sure that we’re more organized to protect our property rights.â€
On Monday night, the City Council unanimously approved the project, called Olia Village, which would transform the landscape of this 18,600-person residential suburb by adding a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development based around a “main street†concept, with space for public events.
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The plan includes apartments, 130 townhouses, retail, hotels, office buildings and other commercial space on 96 acres at 10300 Olive Boulevard, formerly a part of Bayer’s North American headquarters.
Developer Fireside Financial and partner Jack Matthews Development are expected to request tax incentives for construction, which would take at least five years to complete.
The plan approved Monday included several last-minute changes negotiated only hours before the meeting by the developers and residents, including an additional tree buffer to shield homes, plus reductions in the height and scale of some key buildings that residents said would loom over their neighborhoods.
Several residents said the changes didn’t go far enough.
But Councilwoman Heather Silverman said Tuesday that officials did all they could.
“At the end of the day, we reached the compromise that was going to happen,†said Silverman, who introduced the amended development plan that included the changes on Monday. “I don’t know that extra time would have done anything productive.â€
Silverman said that the city will review the site plans for each individual project in the development, and residents can have more input then.
Fireside first publicized a general concept for the land after buying it in late 2022, and Creve Coeur issued public notices in August for upcoming meetings on the project. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted Oct. 2, after two previous meetings, 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, up from a 35-foot buffer Fireside had initially proposed.
But several residents said the city had failed to notify them until it was too late to review the impact on their neighborhoods and suggest substantial changes. A petition urging a delay called for a green buffer of up to 120 feet, among 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 added 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. The council also reduced the scale of some buildings, including the tallest — an eight-story parking garage that will now be no more than six stories high.
The council approved the plan 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.
Resident Rachel Protzel said the changes negotiated Monday were a positive step forward but didn’t go far enough.
“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 told the council. “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.â€
Development representative Chris Stritzel, a vice president with the Crawford, Murphy and Tilly consulting firm, told the council 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.
“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, wife of David Singer. “Today is the first day we have had meaningful conversation with the developer to address our concerns.â€
At least three people spoke in favor of the project, including Emily Lohse-Busch, executive director of the 39 North Agritech Innovation District, which includes Bayer’s remaining east campus and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, among others.
She called the village a “critical component†for the district, in helping draw in more entrepreneurs and scientists who want to live near where they work.
“They want to know they can build their lives here,†Lohse-Busch 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.â€
After the council vote, Mayor Bob Hoffman told residents the city would review every village building before it is built and that residents would be notified immediately each time to provide their input.
“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€
Plans for the project call for four “sub-districts†— 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.
The site long served as half of local agribusiness giant Monsanto’s sprawling headquarters, which straddled Lindbergh Boulevard, before Bayer bought the company in 2018.
But after the coronavirus pandemic, the German agriculture conglomerate put the western half up for sale, citing a pandemic-induced shift in office needs.
Edwardsville-based Fireside bought it last year for $55 million, according to ºüÀêÊÓƵ County records.