Olive Retail Anchor To Remain Secret Until TIF Is Approved

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — U City residents will be asked to weigh in on proposed development on Olive Boulevard at a public hearing next month, though they probably won't have some important details in time to make an informed decision. The primary retail anchor is still a secret, and, according to Novus Development President Jonathan Browne, it's likely to remain so until after the TIF commission votes to approve the public financing agreement.

"We have been asked by the anchor tenant to not announce the name," Browne said at the April 18 meeting of the TIF commission. "They typically do this until the development process has been approved. We are duty-bound and contractually-bound to honor that confidentiality."

Watch the April 18 TIF commission meeting here.

Browne said his company has a signed letter of intent from the anchor, but that the name won't be made public until "after the conclusion of the TIF process that enables the terms [of the agreement] to be a reality."

The TIF commission doesn't know any more than the public, though Browne said the numbers presented to the commission in the city's cost-benefit analysis were generated by the company whose name he can't reveal.

"How can you evaluate the viability of the project or even the desirability of the retailer without knowing who it is?" U City resident David Harris asked the commission Wednesday night.

Many other citizens and business owners came to the meeting with concerns and questions as well. Among them was Max Tsai, who owns an Asian shopping center in the development's path.

"This question is not only for our own businesses, but other business owners in the area...," Tsai said. "For businesses that may be displaced by this project, what businesses would qualify for University City's relocation program?"

Each business would be dealt with on a case by case basis, a city representative told Tsai, taking into account criteria such term of tenancy and location. The city stopped short of offering a blanket reassurance.

The city told business owners they should plan for "business as usual," at least until the plan clears the TIF commission and goes to the city council for a vote. Though, the Post-Dispatch reported earlier this month that some have already been told to move out as soon as June 1. What happens if they move and the plan falls through isn't clear.

Linda Johnson, who has lived for 41 years on the corner of Richard Avenue, just across from the proposed development, asked about what steps the city would take to manage traffic and construction in her neighborhood. "We already have traffic problems," she said. "It's been under construction for the last year and a half, almost two years, with the sewer district. People complain about cracks in their ceilings and walls, and nothing's been done. So, how do we alleviate these problems without adding on more?"

Johnson also asked whether a wall or another buffer would be built between her neighborhood and the commercial shopping center, expressing concern for noisy trucks coming down her road late a night.

Acting community development director Rosalind Williams told Johnson that the city will consider such issues once the project is approved.

"Once the TIF is approved, it will go through all of the ordinary approvals and views that the city undertakes, and at that point, we can certainly consider any modifications to any site plans or landscaping or buffering — those kinds of items — when the project is getting ready to go through those approval processes," Williams said.

Johnson told Williams that she and her neighbors do not feel like they have been adequately informed about the project thus far.

"This is in the concept stages," Williams told her.

But, Williams and the council majority seem firmly behind the project, concept stages or not.

"Folks, this is it. It's kinda thumbs up, or it's kinda thumbs down," Mayor-elect Terry Crow said of the development at the April 9 city council meeting. "If you're not for it, that is perfectly fine. I respect your decision. But, do not come back again and say, 'What are we going to do?' Because it's not like like folks have been knocking at the door to do these developments over the past 10 years."

Williams, who has served as an unofficial adviser throughout the process, has also submitted a private proposal to "to guide the City through the TIF approval process," according to a document Patch obtained from the city manager.

That document makes it clear that Williams' private community development group, WITH, is in favor of the project. WITH stands to make several thousand dollars in fees if the project — and the group's proposal — are accepted by the city.

"The developer is investing time and money in the project without an approved TIF plan and development agreement," WITH's proposal states. "Property owners with option in hand will begin to get anxious about when they can start looking for new homes and business locations, which makes it imperative for the city to accelerate the TIF approval process by setting up a TIF Commission as soon as possible."

Asked if the proposal represents a conflict of interest, City Manager Gregory Rose said it does not, because it has not been accepted by the city. Asked if the city had any plans to accept the proposal in the future, Rose said: "Not today."

After the meeting, Johnson said she didn't feel her concerns were addressed, but she hopes if the project is approved, some of the funds will be used to improve her neighborhood.

"I would love to see neighborhood projects to help people who can't afford to keep their homes up," she said. "If the money can come back into the community, I would love to see it flourish. I would love to see the neighborhood the way it was when we moved in [in 1968]."

But Williams said not every Third Ward homeowner may see grants and loans from the TIF fund. "We're going to do a variety of housing programs that will affect the real estate direction of the neighborhoods," she explained. "We're trying to improve the values in the neighborhood and get the real estate environment more viable than it has been. I wouldn't count on actually looking at each one of those houses as getting so much money. It's going to be very strategic and we will develop a neighborhoodwide plan for exactly how we're going to use those funds."

Whether the city will use its power to take land from private businesses and homeowners is also a question of concern to many Third Ward residents. According to a FAQ on the city's website, eminent domain will only be considered in the first development area, between Woodson and McKight Roads and Interstate 170.

Browne said he has a commitment from the city that eminent domain will be used in a single case to condemn and seize Public Storage.

"I make my living out of real estate. I respect it in every way. It's a very touchy issue for sure," Browne said. "I think [eminent domain] has to be used very judiciously. And, in this case, the owner in question — Public Storage — when we approached them about buying their property, it was a very factual statement: He said, 'We're not authorized to sell real estate. It's not in our operating agreement. We rent space. For us to sell, you would have to condemn us.'"

Browne said that former interim City Manager Charles Adams called him to inform him of the decision to approve using eminent domain. "It's my understanding that it was voted on by the council and approved unanimously," Browne said.

If that's the case, Patch can't find a record of it. The vote may have been held in executive session or it may have been an informal understanding between council members rather than an official vote.

Neither Councilmember Bwayne Smotherson or acting community development director Rosalind Williams responded to an email last week asking for clarification about when and how eminent domain was approved. Councilmember Paulette Carr responded but did not address the issue of eminent domain.

The city posted some photos of the redevelopment area online, arguing in public documents that the deterioration shown justifies a decision to declare the area blighted. The same document contained the names and addresses of what appears to be every property owner in the Third Ward. That document has now been removed from the city's website.

In total, only seven photos were provided to document the blighted conditions throughout the entire ward.

Browne said his development would provide an "economic engine" to improve conditions in the Third Ward and that he doesn't view the TIF funds as public money. "This is private developer money," he said. "I know people think it's tax money, but it is tax money that is being redirected. It's tax money that isn't there today and wouldn't be there but for this development going forward — that can only go forward with the TIF assistance."

A public hearing will be held May 23 at the Mandarin House on Olive Boulevard. It is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Patch will be there to cover it. Follow us on Facebook or sign up for breaking news alerts to stay on top of this and other local stories.

Images via University City