ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis developer that changed its planned development of a retail and entertainment hub to a $73 million apartment complex will still receive incentives for the site after agreeing to include affordable housing. In a rare break from tradition, a city board made the change despite opposition from the area’s alderman.
Green Street Real Estate Ventures was granted 10 years of 90% property tax abatement in April 2020 for an $8 million project that combined retail and entertainment space at 4591 McRee Ave. in Forest Park Southeast. The site is west of Bar K, the development that combines Green Street and its affiliated companies’ new office space with a bar, restaurant and dog park.
The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority voted June 28 to revise the redevelopment agreement to allow for the 268-unit apartment building to be built instead of the original retail and entertainment space.
The decision is final and will not go to the Board of Aldermen, an LCRA spokeswoman said.
The LCRA made the decision over objections from the area’s representative on the Board of Aldermen, Tina Pihl, who asked for the project to be delayed so that neighbors would have a chance to weigh in on the proposal.
The board had delayed taking a vote on the plan at an LCRA meeting last month when Pihl objected. She wanted the plan to go back through the entire process for incentives again, since she felt it had changed substantially from the original proposal. She said that attorneys for the Board of Aldermen she consulted with agreed with that position.
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