At a special meeting on November 16, the Board of Alderman unanimously approved the Redevelopment Agreement with Dierbergs for Crestwood Crossing (the former mall site), replacing the former redevelopment agreement with Urban Street. This new robust and lengthy agreement details all of the conditions that Dierbergs must follow to receive the TIF and CID tax incentive reimbursements. Some of those conditions are described below.
It’s worth noting that the McBride residential portion of the development is not addressed within this redevelopment agreement, as that they will not participate in the TIF nor CID sales tax incentives. Although the 2016 TIF agreement that Dierbergs will use covers the entire 47 acres of the site, there will be no sales taxes generated in the residential portion, so it doesn’t really apply to that part of the site. To ensure there is no confusion on this point, an amendment to the TIF agreement will occur after Dierbergs completes the remaining steps to begin construction.
Project Timeline – Dierbergs is still working to get approvals from the State, the County, and MSD. It is expected that once those occur, Dierbergs will close on the sale of the site from Urban Street (probably early next year). At that point Dierbergs will provide the city with their Letter of Intent to Proceed and the timeline clock will start.
Phase IA of the project will address ALL of the prep work for the site, including soil remediation, site grading, utility lines, installing and paving all of the primary streets. [McBride also plans to participate in site prep and street paving during this phase].
After that significant work is completed, then construction of buildings can begin. The Dierbergs grocery store and “attached” retail/restaurants will be completed during this phase.
A connector path and bridge over Gravois Creek (next to Watson Industrial Park) will also be completed in this phase. Details have not been decided, but they are expecting to spend around $350,000 on this connector.
Dierbergs previously stated that they hope to have a grand opening of the new Dierbergs in 2023. The Redevelopment Agreement states that this must happen within 24 months after the Letter of Intent to Proceed.
Phase IB includes the construction of the biggest Gathering Space of the site. The designs of this are still conceptual but will include at least 10,000 sf of restaurant space and another 12,000 sf of plaza space with a water feature. The final design and layout of this gathering space will depend on the tenants selected but will be in the same spirit as the plaza in downtown Kirkwood. The redevelopment agreement states,
“such restaurant shall be of a full service, sit down variety that offers a full menu of food and beverage options in an innovative, unique, destination and/or compelling setting that includes dedicated exterior patio space”This must be completed within 32 months after the Letter of Intent to Proceed (8 months after the deadline for Phase IA).
The remaining phases (IIA, IIB, and III) consist of the remaining portions of the site and will include additional sit down restaurants, drive through restaurants, small retail, and service oriented businesses.
Watson Road Improvements – Dierbergs will provide up to $625,000 to the city to help pay for beautification improvements to Watson Road, including planters and decorative street lighting of similar design to those on Olive Blvd just east of I-270. This will be completed in conjunction with planned repaving improvements planned by MoDOT in 2024/2025.