A $300 million mixed-use development project in the Metro East cleared its final hurdle Monday night.
The O’Fallon City Council voted unanimously to pass seven ordinances and two resolutions all tied to the Park Place Development Project, which leaders of the city believe will be transformational for their town as it’s built over the next eight years.
“We just have to be patient as it's being developed,” said incoming Mayor Eric Van Hook, a current city council member. “I wish it could be here a lot sooner than eight years, but I'm excited for what it's going to provide to not only O'Fallon residents, but to the people that visit our community, and hopefully they'll see what we see in it.”
Park Place, located just across the street from the popular O’Fallon Family Sports Park in the northwest part of the city, will have single-family homes, duplexes, apartment buildings, townhomes, a hotel, retail facilities, restaurants, office space, and entertainment venues. Those include a TopGolf style driving range.
Bruce Holland of Holland Construction, Rich Gorazd of State Construction and Michael Hamburg of Pier Property Group will develop the massive project that’s estimated to cost between $275 and $300 million.
“We're bringing some things to O’Fallon that we don't have,” Gorazd said.
The developers have another six months of planning, he said. After that, construction will start with the roads surrounding the development. The construction of the buildings will begin in one year, and the developers anticipate the remainder of the project will take five to seven years to be completed.
In total, Park Place will have 50 single-family villas for those downsizing or nearing retirement and 429 multi-family units, including the duplexes and apartments.
The original idea came over two years ago to build off the success of the nearby sports park, which attracted 1.5 million visitors last year.
City leaders and the developers said building new housing is an essential piece to the puzzle.
“These apartments are going to capture the young professionals that we feel are fleeing our town after college and going to maybe a more vibrant city,” Gorazd said. “We're trying to bring some of that vibrancy to O’Fallon to keep these young professionals.”
The ordinances and resolutions passed by O’Fallon’s 14 city council members allow the developers to annex property into the city, amend the city’s zoning map for the various types of projects being built, do a sound study for the driving range and create new taxes to help pay for the project.
The council voted to create a special business district, which will allow the developers to administer an additional 1% sales tax on retail goods at Park Place.
Those taxes will be collected by the state and returned to the city, which will then determine if the various infrastructure paid for by the developers can be reimbursed, according to Walter Denton, the city administrator.
“That is a very common incentive,” he said.
In addition, the council also passed a measure to create a new 5% amusement tax for entertainment-type businesses at Park Place. This tax will just be collected by the city. In a similar process, 4% will be used to help reimburse the developers for infrastructure costs and the remaining 1% will be used to cover administrative costs by the city, Denton said.
Both the special business district and amusement tax are limited to $20 million or 23 years, whichever comes first.
Both city council members for Ward 3, which includes a majority of Park Place, voted in support of the various ordinances and resolutions. Andrea Fohne and Roy Carney said they were initially hesitant of the project after hearing a number of concerns from their constituents.
The questions and criticisms included the noise and light level of the driving range and the increased traffic. The city’s traffic engineer conducted a study and recommended a new light, extra turn lanes off Highway 50 and a new roundabout be created before Park Place opens.
After making those adjustments, Fohne and Carney came to the conclusion that the project will help O’Fallon grow. For Carney, creating new housing is important because there's a lack of starter homes.
“This is going to give them a place to live and stay in O'Fallon,” Carney said. “And I think that's definitely a plus because a city that quits growing starts dying.”
Fohne describes herself as an O’Fallon historian. After reviewing previous disputes, she said there’s also been some concern about exciting projects.
“It's the same problems, different packages,” Fohne said. “I think you have to take the broader view, step back, and think into the future. We're going to be really happy — and it'll be good.”
O’Fallon’s action on the massive mixed-use project comes at a time when a handful of other Metro East cities have also undertaken projects to create similar facilities or revitalize existing space.
- A real estate company recently opened a $33 million coworking space in Alton, and the same organization, AltonWorks, has plans to build affordable housing and rehab retail space along the city’s downtown.
- Construction has already started on the nearly $12.8 million Park North development in Edwardsville, which will include a new gas station, hotels, apartments, golf and pickleball complexes.
- A company wants to build between $400 to $500 million in stores, restaurants, apartments, villas, duplexes and single-family homes — and annex the land into Swansea.
