CRESTWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) - Plans to redevelop the long-vacant Crestwood Mall site could take a step forward Thursday, when the plan goes before the city's TIF Commission.
The Commission will take up Dierbergs request for $13.5 million in tax increment financing to support its $67 million dollar proposal to develop half the site with a grocery store, restaurants and retail. City Administrator Kris Simpson tells KMOX more than a decade of false starts, makes it clear that whoever develops the site will need some help.
"When you have a project that is this challenging," he says, "and you have seen that it has struggled to attract a meaningful development project that could be moved forward successfuly. That is the demonstration that there is a need for some assistance to make it happen."
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The site at Sappington and Watson Roads has sat undeveloped since the mall closed in 2012, but Simpson says it has been a redevelopment target since before then.
"You could go back to the early 2000's when Westfield bought South County Center and West County Center and they did not reinvest in Crestwood Mall," Simpson says. "That's really when I think development efforts for the mall site began."
He says challenges include the mall's underground garage, which has to be removed, the significant slope that raises storm water issues that have to be resolved, and utilities, some of which date back to the mall's construction in the 1950s.
"Demolishing that garage and making the site developable so you can put something on top of that former space is a very costly proposition," Simpson says. "So, the developer (Dierberg's) is indicating that those are extraordinary site costs and their project would not be able to move forward without any assistance."
While Dierberg's plans to develop half the site, McBride Homes is planning to build 81 single-family homes on the other half, Simpson expects the development's total cost to hit $100 million. He says having the public support less than 20 percent of that is a very good result for Crestwood.
"We do view the use of incentives with a very conservative mindset," he says."The ratio of incentive to the development cost here is in line with what we've seen around the region for projects we think are not quite as challenging as ours, in particular, is."
Thursday's TIF Commission meeting is at 7 pm and is available on Zoom.
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