Dardenne Prairie, Weldon Spring among recipients of economic bonds

Once a teeming hub of construction activity, St. Charles County’s development world is about to get back to work on a couple of projects by getting a shot in the arm with the approval of two bills by County Council on Sept. 28.

The first relates to the designation of a recovery zone to prepare the legal ground for receiving federal government stimulus monies. The second named the recipients of tax-exempt bond funds specifically for economic development.

Selected by County Executive Steve Ehlmann, and approved by County Council, the jurisdictions to receive the funds will now be able to work with developers on projects that have been held up by a sluggish economy. In all, the county received $22.3 million.

Dardenne Prairie and Weldon Spring city halls snapped up the opportunity to jump-start some projects getting dusty on their drawings boards. According to Dardenne Prairie Planning and Community Development Director Brad Turvey, that city was designated to receive $2 million.

“This money can’t go for infrastructure,” Turvey said. “It has to be an actual building development like the 10-acre property the city has purchased (at the southeast intersection of Post Road and Hwy. N).”

This tract has been zoned for a mixed use commercial, retail and residential development in a new urbanism-style formation. Turvey said the city’s vision is for a multiple-storied building development constructed in a high-density arrangement in the area close to the intersection, becoming less dense as construction moves to the south and east sides of the property where more residential will be worked into the mix.

“It would look something like New Town or a newer version of Main Street St. Charles,” Turvey said. The city had already been in negotiations with a few developers, who have been held up by their inability to secure funding.

“Now, we’ll be able to get back with them to offer low-interest rate financing,” Turvey said. “This isn’t just giving out money – it’s not free – the developer will have to pay it back and it will serve to stimulate economic development and get us back on track.”

The city was set to get started on this development for over two years, which, coincided with the economic slow-down.

Another victim of the credit crunch was a project in Weldon Spring. Ehlmann requested the County County authorize that city’s case for $10 million to assist in constructing an office building along the Hi-Tech Corridor near Hwy. 40/61 (I-64).

The 132,000-square-foot commercial structure was on the way to a ground breaking after the Weldon Spring Board of Aldermen approved a preliminary site plan in 2008—again, another victim of shrinking credit availability.

The contractor, Balke Brown Associates, will need $24 million in all but the $10 million in low-interest tax-exempt financing will boost the chances of getting underway on the West Highland office building sooner rather than later.

Duckett Creek Sanitary District is set to receive $2 million to finance a new wastewater treatment facility and add sewer service to a new area that includes two churches, two schools and a housing development south of Hwy. N, west of Hopewell Road, per the bill passed on Sept. 28

Another developer set to get a financial shot in the arm via the Recovery Zone bonds, is the Riverwalk Development in St. Charles. 

County Council had passed a resolution in support of the project some three years ago. Since then, developer Michael Sellenschuetter was slowed in his quest to assemble the $1.5 billion, 300-acre mixed use development to be called Harbor San Carlos. It would incorporate a harbor town design around a canal lined with waterfront restaurants, condos, marinas and boat docks.

The county’s contribution of $6.2 million in low-interest bond funds, again, will aid in assembling the remaining funding package.

The city of St. Charles is to receive funding for multiple projects designed to boost economic development.

According to the county Economic Development Director Jennifer George, the agencies that appear to be poised to issue the tax-exempt bonds would likely be the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) which is affiliated with the Economic Development Center (EDC) of St. Charles County and the Missouri Development Finance Board, an arm of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.