Economic Development Commission - Regular Meeting

There we go. We're on. Okay. Calling to order the Economic Development Commission for August 25th, 2025. Miss Dowy, will you call the role? Yes, sir. Uh Rodney Pattershot here. Nate Zillinsky, absent. Cole Donaldson, here. Becky Jacobs here.

David Moons, absent or possibly late. Um, besides that, in attendance, we have a city council leaison, council member Kate Pashan Helman, and uh staff leaison, director of planning and community development Carlos Tjo, and senior planner Don Dodie. Welcome everyone. All right, fantastic. Um going to go through the agenda here, seeing if we have any public comments. We have no one in attendance. Rather cold empty chairs out there. Let's see if we have some hot ones online. Not at this time, chairman.

Okay, we'll dispense with that. Okay, moving right along. um the EDC 5-year economic development plan, a business license status strategy, and we're going to talk a little bit about distress and underperforming parcels. Miss Dody, I presume you have some data for us. Yes, I do. Don't forget to push your button.

Yes, I did not manage that. But uh so our five-year economic development plan sets forth a number of goals and I actually am realizing I did not slice in the uh the more recent uh comprehensive plan uh parts where we confirm um these goals and and expand upon them. But as part of the five-year economic development plan, uh, one of the goals is to look at our different retail centers. So, I've did I've done a little breakdown um by the uh total sales minus the sums that they've paid in state and federal taxes as well as and excluding sales outside of Missouri. So, these are merchants only within the shops at Price Crossing. So this does not include any office spaces or anything like that that which also contribute to revenue etc. uh and employees. But uh focusing strictly on merchants because they report their sales and as a um like a litmus or a measure of economic health, looking at their aggregate sales um year-over-year to see if they're doing better or worse comparatively. um shops of Price Crossing looking rather good. And I didn't on purpose, you know, I didn't start it out um you know, on purpose with with a with a big flash SL, you know, a big increase, but it it just happened to work out.

Just to be just to be clear, what you're saying, these are this is not sales tax receipts. This is uh property tax plus sales tax. No, this would be sales. Um they're they're revenue. Oh, they're revenue. Okay. Yeah. The the business revenue. Yeah. Because that those are some pretty big numbers for sales tax.

They are. Yes. And so it does not directly reflect the sales tax or the amount that they pay. They do pay onetenth of 1% on this amount. So we are charging them as it were a a fraction um of of of that amount that they are reporting. But as far as the shops at Price Crossing goes, the retailers um although Revo Cup uh and the wine merchant have not been on this list consistently, um the wine merchant did not come on till 2024. Um and the numbers, the sales weren't reflected really until 2025. Uh you have let's see the rest other are pretty constant but uh Vantage Credit Union was the previous user of the wine merchant space. They were not a merchant. They did not generate um you know or or report uh this amount and we require they report this amount on their business license application renewal application. And Don, I think it's important to note. So like the the dates that you see there, that's the sales two years prior. So that that very last bar that's May 15, 2026, that was the 2024 sales,

correct? So when you look at this,

Yeah. Now, I do need to put that in context that the expiration dates that listed on the bottom there refer to the expiration date of the business license. uh that was just the simple way to break them out by you know in a in a time fashion. So whenever they report these numbers they do so by May 15th of every year. This captures the sales uh January through December for the previous annual year. So you have that five months to get your numbers together essentially, you know, between, you know, December and May. It does give people a good amount of time. Most people do not need that time and people have gotten to be earlier payers as a result of it. So um yeah, so what you as as Carlos was saying the uh the the 2026 obviously does not reflect sales in the in 2026 that has not occurred yet. Uh they are reflective of 2024.

Yeah. So it's safe to say like that first the bar the 2023 you know the pandemic hit that April that's that early summer and then 24 is 2022 while we were in the pandemic before we we got out and then you can see the recovery but even after the recovery on that third column which is 25 which is 2023 uh the center was recovered well and then it's still still doing okay uh with the the combination of the wine merchant and then there's been some other changes in in the center.

Yeah, Revo Cup also is another notable they replace Starbucks but they Starbucks had you know there there was no revenue from that Starbucks for a a period of time. So going on um oh sorry I see oh bank it's I see that the sales include uh outside of Missouri so they do not include sales outside of Missouri and excluding sales excluding Thank you. Yeah. Okay. And so unless I type that wrong I wasn't I I wasn't excluding that possibility.

Yes. Uh so uh yeah no obviously merchants um we have basically that reporting function so that you can tell us how much you've made in sales um outside of Missouri. But a merchant like most of these retailers are not going to have that. they don't have online sales um you know or you know yeah I guess online sales is really the only instance where you have that or you know if they do uh some kind of you know impo whatever symposium somewhere uh now plaza lot more simple uh the merchants there are much fewer um and you can I I don't know that you would really deduce much from this. It's not a huge fall amount over the years. Uh but c certainly um you know only leading up to 2024 uh I hope to see these numbers kind of improve as um you know they re recently reskin the building and it does look a lot nicer. So the the the companies that are or the businesses that are um representative here are consistent all through those numbers of years.

Um these in particular are um this is one of the few that they are consistent year-over-year. Um and in the retailers listed uh there were like so the the back and neck place that is a service uh the salon is also primarily a service and has never really reported any um sales of uh merchandise. You can be there are salons like salon 3 that reports um their sales in addition to their service numbers. So um it kind of depends. Um same thing with automotive like you have parts and labor. So there are sales uh associated with those. for Plant Haven um our newest center. Um we see how it has gone from a vacant lot uh to um a relatively you know not I don't know powerhouse is the right way to say it but I like to think that they're doing pretty well. Uh it has included uh these stores and there has not been any turnover to date. Is it completely leased out?

Yes. 100%. They've got um offices upstairs. Um do we know who OC occupies those? Is it part of L? The lower tenants. The spaces are they're set up like the Oh, yeah. It's the the lower tenants. The the spaces are like at a great heart. They have the the the mezzanine level and the jun area. Um, I believe the Salon 3 has some office space above them, you know, their office space and then Plant Haven extends over. Okay. Uh, the UPS store.

And I imagine with Great Heart just opening recently, these numbers are going to grow probably a lot more. Yes. Um, Greatart has only a couple months that they reported of last of the last year. So, yeah. I want to say there was only three that's included in that. I hear they I hear they have some really great ice cream in there. Ice cream. Well, you'll have to pick it out. Locally made by my own two hands. I see. Everybody needs to go for ice cream.

Under under my supervision. all of that center a lot more retailers and uh you can see that there has been some change uh with the uh reduction from uh Tuesday morning as well as party city. uh party city is reflected in that first year um for the 2024 uh well no yeah because they did not report or they did not have a they did not renew their business license so yeah it would not be in there but otherwise uh we also don't have numbers from some of these retailers so

is that why is that why the number reflected in The last column is so low. No. Or is that because Party City was gone? No. Um I would say that that it accounts for Party City. Also, whenever Tuesday morning was replaced by the dance academy, the dance academy is not a merchant. Uh, so I thought it was the fitness place that's in it. And the fitness place is also no longer a merchant because Anytime Fitness does not sell anything besides their membership. Got it. Okay.

So, I don't know. Uh, maybe if they sell water, I don't think so. But a fountain in there.

There might be a fountain in there. Uh however, Taik Shaboo Shaboo when looking at their numbers individually it seemed very strong. So as I wouldn't say that there is a necessary reduction in um you know the components that are here so much as an absence of those that are no longer in town. and the cake and crab if they're they pack that parking lot every night if they are not pulling it in like crazy I don't know yeah so allet restaurants specifically we had a banner you know reporting year the previous year but I feel like uh our 2026 uh which is the 2024 numbers look pretty good. Uh it obviously doesn't include any of the things that are coming yet. Uh the actually Great Heart Brewery is not listed on here, but they absolutely should be uh that's simply an error on uh my part. They are included in the numbers. there any questions about those?

So, part of this talking with Don, it's part of the five-year plan that we now have the resources thanks to the council and the software we have uh to to really, you know, you know, digitize or put the the data in into spreadsheets and make it useful for him for Don can go through here and read through it to we can get down to like a single single tenant or entity. um we can't disclose some of those numbers. That's why we probably tried to put them in in an aggregate, but we can start the goal here was to run an exercise with with the commission to kind of look at how we can use that data. Like in this case, we we did the restaurants because, you know, we want to encourage our residents to eat in all of that because it's important uh that sales taxes is is uh is now back to uh you know, a good third of our our our budget or 25% of our budget. uh in there. So, you know, and also, you know, to be able to shop uh in in all of that and what are mechanisms or ways to to do that. Uh which goes back to our business communication plan about you know working with uh business owners you know doing small little newsletter articles or interviews uh to promoting different businesses through uh opportunities on you know whether it's turkey trot or being sponsors at the five oaks and and things of that nature uh in there. The goal here is, you know, that we we can start looking at at data. We can start looking at trends. We can look at, you know, like Plaza and how that, you know, it's it's an old shopping center. Uh, you know, Dollar Tree is is good, but it's it's, you know, it's been there uh in there. And the, you know, one of the things comprehensive plan talks about is curating uh tenants and and all that. We have a lot of service type oriented tenants uh in those spaces from the uh

the back and neck doctor uh SSM Becky J's uh in there. So, you know, you know, being a little bit more cognizant when we're trying to balance the the number of tenants. The the space works well. It's 100% occupied. The parking's good. Uh but it it it probably isn't at its full potential uh in there. not looking at any of these tenants being batter or trying to move move them out, but being able to be aware of what's going on and and and if there are flags that we can, you know, proactively, you know, engage with either the businesses or the owners to find out what's, you know, if there's anything we can provide. So,

sounds good. Yeah. So, I think it's it's a it's it's a interesting trend. You can see a lot of the pandemic uh trends here, but you know, trying to extract that, you know, and look at uh look at these. This one probably was the most disappointing one, you know, that we weren't, you know, but there's a lot of competition now. If you go down to, you know, the other side of 170, you go to Creek Core, you know, the the the pie's getting bigger and we're our slice is still in there.

Well, actually, you know what? I uh beg to differ a little bit because there's a a clustering effect too where as soon as you start to get more restaurants, people start to come here to make a decision afterwards. Soon as you have more shopping, people have um come here because they want they know that they can make a decision rather than just go to one place. So that's that's good. And actually you answered my question that I had with regards to privacy of uh revenue numbers etc. So, um, as long as you, you know, aggregate them and present them this way, we don't have a problem. Great.

A thought that I had, and I don't know when or where I came across this, Don, but I'm guessing it's a map that you created that was a map of Olivet restaurants and had, you know, it's kind of one like if you were a new tourist somewhere, a hotel might give you this when you show up or something maybe. Is it the dining guy?

Yes. Yes. the dining guide. The dining guide. But I thought, you know, I I had never seen that before. I I'm sure I found it when I was going through some of the things for the EDC. Um, but it made me think just now with the declining sales if putting together another dining guide like that might be helpful and something that could then go out in a newsletter.

It is up todate and it can go out. Um, yeah, it it does have the new or the coming soon restaurants on there as well. Um, although I'm, you know, wondering if there's another one that might be, you know, coming down the road. Uh, but it can be updated so easily that it's not I I would think that we would want to send that out. It is on our website. Um maybe we can when we can ask Kiana uh to push that out in social media. Uh but thank you. Yes, it is my map.

It is and we used that when uh Emerson came in. They have 250 employees to make sure that that they were aware were able to get an electronic copy to distribute it to the employees in there. So when there's those opportunities, Don takes advantage of that. Yeah. Or maybe even collaborating with the new apartment buildings, too. Yeah. Yeah. The newsletter is a great thing. Just maybe one just to explain what the EDC does for the residents, you know. Okay. I'm going to write that down.

Yeah. Especially especially the the new people coming in. I agree with the, you know, we have a concentration of people in these new apartment developments that should be a little easier to get to than a bunch of individual houses. Um, if we're talking physical, you know, or even going through the channel of the apartment, you know, communications,

if we can get it in the newsletter, um, that's a great way to get it to, you know, the the apartments as well as the, uh, house housing dwellers. So um because it goes out to each and every I I actually I don't know how they do it but uh we can look at the cost you know of of a mailing as opposed you know and do a little cost comparison there. So by newsletter are we talking about all of that uh life? Yes that that one. Yeah that's what it's called right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

And it might be interesting to do something similar, you know, kind of like one newsletter it's it's a dining guide, the next newsletter it's a health services guide or, you know, kind of if it's by theme or topic or, you know, something like that just as a way of really highlighting what we have here. Yeah. You know, actually

people love spotlights. Very easy way to organize things. One one thing um we might consider is um a just a standalone like the dining guide etc. kind of a welcome to all that thing. We've got so many all of that um or so many apartments that have um that have popped up in the last little while. uh just provide the printing um for the people in these uh uh running these places and um that way we don't have to you know pay postage. True. Yeah. It's something we can coordinate and drop off with the managers or person.

Yeah, we've got good um report with it's a it' be a good you know people checking places out if they want to rent there. this is something they can h hand them to help those people, right? Yeah, that's a great point. Perspective tenants. I was thinking an apartment guide, but it's probably better the that there would be more guides going to the apartments, though. I think and besides health services and dining um I think there's a lot of personal services personal service whether it's athletics to hair

there's gyms like I mean and not just not just five oaks but you have anytime fitness and a couple of other private things those would be all good the pedal and pickle for sure yeah licensed bureau as I think about it more feel like the apartments are a particularly high return on your like uh immediate services,

dining at least, especially dining promotion efforts because they're ones who are more likely not to know about these things in a new area they're coming into. The incentives of you all and the apartments um managers are aligned because they want to promote their area just like we want to promote our area. Um and yeah, when I was in apartment I ate out more true that and if you see the foot traffic between the Oliver and uh the little Yeah, it's uh they're looking for something closer or it would really appear. So,

we'll wait. Yeah, just wait until the, you know, got a couple of restaurants. The French baguette, the cap, the I'm sure Chevys is doing very well. Um, but yeah, um, that's something we can we can look at maybe just Yeah,

get some ideas on what we could do with what possible tenants. So there's only one more slide to this and that this is all merchants by quadrant instead of um it it really does um surprise you to see how much um our merchants generate in the dealman price area. Uh those are wholesalers. So again, onetenth of 1%, but uh we we are rocking some, you know, uh some nice wholesalers around town.

So that's like in the industrial area or the white industrial district. So Dealman Price, Dealman Rock, and Warren Bower are going to be our more flex and industrial spaces. There are quite a few more offices uh which do sales. um in the in the area. And when especially if you consider the amount of car businesses that do the parts and sales, the numbers kind of really went up there, right? So, it's good.

The Dealman price has always been high, but it jumped big time this last year. I think I remember from last meeting you said there was a big business there that does a bulk of this sales.

Uh Shnook's Floral um does is uh their floral design center is at 9200 uh Short Line Industrial Drive uh which is off of Dealman uh Industrial. And are those, you know, when I see a a number that's way higher than everything else, I think like we need to make sure that stays that person's really happy. Yeah. There was a couple and I think what you're referring to is probably a enterprise in there. Enterprise had the uh the registration process. Yeah.

And in that case, they they paid a merchants license, but probably 99% of their sales were out of state. So it it's not reflected in these numbers but it was in the budget. I mean when we saw our retail numbers budget-wise uh they they you know they played a significant role in the amount of retail sax retail sales tax we collected. This is more reflective of who the the current businesses that that are there because enterprise really didn't reflect much in in the collection of the licensing aspect of it. Uh, but we have some really good businesses. Uh, uh, Medical West. Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of.

Auto beauty specialist and there the Shnooks. Um, Murphy doesn't fall under it as as much because they're under a service. They're just a service, but they're the uh the my brand promo uh has a has a good good amount of sales. And uh and I am just blanking. The other one is the the Crown Crown Lift to the Crown Trucks. Crown Lift Trucks. Yes. Uh the Gund company HDIS

and HDIS. HDIS is one of our bigger uh uh contributors here. And uh but the Gund company is definitely high on there. They pay both merchants and a service. Um but Virginia tile which was a part of this has dropped off so they are not reflected in that last year for sure. And yeah, Enterprise was you wouldn't you sometimes you would think that you know they're they're big companies doing big business but they don't qualify for the merchant license. Um and they they're only a service. So they play they pay a flat rate. Uh let's see. So other than that, I just thought that this was a neat one because it doesn't really consider, you know, it shows you that it's only part of the story.

Is there anything we can do to make, you know, those, you know, people happier? uh said

it's certainly something to think about and to look at uh in your packets today. Um I put your I put a copy of the business communications plan and I'd like to look at that and see those are like you you told me before that you want to know what we can do and this is basically like your options. So you can look at this as something that's been vetted, that's been suggested and um and confirmed in a lot of ways because the comprehensive plan reflects the same goals and objectives.

Don, you had a slide that kind of outlined some of that uh in there earlier on in the day. I think it's towards your the the towards the end. Yeah. Yeah. So if you look at this slide, it's kind of summarizes that business communications plan. And if you look at the far left there where the bullet points are.

Uh and I think when when you when you showed that to me, we I think we've gone through a majority of these. Uh we streamlined the process for new business arrivals. They come in and they're dealing straight with Don throughout the process. She's coordinating them through the building inspector. She's coordinating them through the licenses. And then at the end they get their their certificates all through Don uh in there. Um we are aware and we have the insights of the key businesses like we kind of just went through. I mean we we know uh pretty well. Uh we haven't created a business page. We talked with uh with uh with big business and all of that which is

correct. That's true. uh we highlight businesses whether it's in we did uh two newsletters ago we we highlighted like about four or five uh minority owned businesses uh in all of that uh that generally don't get much attention. One was like the uh uh the framer in the industrial park uh uh in there and then Becky J's and and all of that uh plaza in there. And then uh we've improved our communications with the chamber uh building relationships, good services, expanding the coffee with the mayor uh to include, you know, we even have some businesses that do attend those now. Um several businesses host coffee with the cop. We haven't tried all of that restaurant night out. uh and there uh or local shopping campaigns. And then uh Five Oaks and the parks department and uh also uh Turkey Trot have been active, you know, engaging with businesses to to be, you know, provide opportunities for sponsorships and those those things. So, a lot of these it was kind of neat as she was going through that, you know, we we're checking off and and getting moving through those. And I think it it it has improved in terms when somebody comes in here to start a business. You know, we got it down that, you know, we're not sending them to five different places to fill out six different forms. Don has one uniform. How many forms? We had probably like three forms you had to fill out. Don has it has it down to one, you know,

three forms, four. Sure. Love that.

Well, it has been nice and um the only rocky part of the transition has been people filling out more than one form because they just can't believe that it's one form. But that has been uh that's been the only learning curve so far. Uh I we should be proud of how much we've accomplished since the business communication plan was created. It was um back in 2020. So it's a little bit older of a plan. Uh it was a five-year plan. So uh from an assessment and completion um we should probably think of ways that we can better express our our pride in our accomplishments. However, um as far as things to do, um opportunities that we should take, uh advantage of as far as ideas, uh there are a lot of things that are listed in there and uh things that we've talked about are like business roundts. um if we have the wherewithal to staff something like that ourselves. Um how you guys feel about that. Um or if you to and to do a business roundt you know other than assessing their happiness you know a business has happiness you know what is our goal uh we can there are surveys uh I would highly recommend you know utilizing our ARGIS software and survey one two three to do an electronic polling of businesses um if you think that that it is certainly costffective effective. We have their contact information um including email addresses from their um applications.

So we can utilize that to pull the businesses. Will we get you know quite the return on even that minimal investment the first time? Maybe, maybe not. I'm certainly encouraged by the second year of business uh awards because we easily I mean like we blew it out of the water you know the second year compared to the first year of people who participated

the number of people yeah we easily doubled it. So, it was very fun to see that and um to see that growing. But when and when it comes to uh surveys, some people are worried about survey fatigue. We don't send out a lot of surveys um either citywide or to our businesses. Uh, CRE core does uh a mailing campaign at least or once a year or once every two years. I don't know what the frequency is, but like it's a whole questionnaire um similar to a census. Uh, and it's very detailed on the residents of your household, earnings, things like that, uh, opinions on services. So um and when I first started here uh we had and doing our GIS our it was a major value added structure for from GIS to be able to offer surveys at no additional cost. So I put together surveys for different you know like happiness you know if you are you know you're satisfied with the services of the city. So it can be something as you know kind of bland and you know essential needs as that or we can go into you know more business specific things you know are you struggling with your sales you know and how but we'd have to be prepared to help.

All right I don't Sounds good. We'll have a look at that. I don't think we have anything to actually act on. Yeah. No no there's nothing to act on. Um, this was all simply for uh production for y'all. Good. Good. Uh, all right. You had the next one was underperforming properties. Yes. Um, so Carlos is dealing uh with some ladies outside and he has the that part of the process.

I guess I have a question with this business communications plan. Um, and Rod, I don't know how long you've been on the commission, but I'd be curious, um, if there were previous business communication plans, given what you had just said, Don, about this being five years and maybe nearing its end or time to rethink it. Um, has there been a process for like saying, okay, let's evaluate where we are in this and then revise, come up with next steps. That was something that Kiana had mentioned um because she said she doesn't even remember drafting because it's been so long since she put it together. So um it it certainly it certainly does you know an evaluation for success. Uh yeah we have not done that as far as um trying to keep our feet moving and trying to find ideas uh before the revision. I suppose trying to rescue what we can as far as ideas from it would be my goal in

Is that something that you would think that this commission would look at? I would hope that we would want to revise I don't know if um uh sorry Carlos um Kad asks if we are looking at revising um our business communications plan. Yeah, this one's about five years old and and we've been in discussions with Kiana uh and there uh if I understood what you had asked her, we would probably look for some input or some type of presentation to the commission as she puts that together. Uh

okay. Yeah, I was just curious more about process. Um but it sounds like this business communications plan is kind of a new well new in 2020 entity uh new thing for is that right? Yes. Okay. So so then any kind of revisions or evaluation of the plan you know that hasn't happened previously. Yeah. Like before 2020 we didn't have the resources. We didn't have anybody doing actually

if if there was it was kind of like a split sort of um situation where the city clerk might do a little bit of communications rather we actually have a person who actually is in charge of communications now and uh you know the business side is just one facet of it. Correct. Yeah. So yeah, we would largely be evaluating our success uh since this plan.

And I I'd say, you know, evaluate great kind of like I'm looking at more of like a mile post saying, hey, we got five years under a belt. Um what's working, what's not working. Uh and basically what we've done is just sort of added on things and maybe maybe it's time to drop some things or whatever or you know look at this list and see how we can integrate these things and I think that would be the process there. um have have Canada come out to a meeting. Yes. And just uh Yeah. And we can discuss this andordinate. We'll go from there. Well, that would be fun to have. Yeah.

Great. Yeah. And then, well, getting back to distressed properties, Carlos, you had some things to say on this. Uh just a couple updates. We we looked at these properties at our last meeting. Uh they extend from 170 uh up where the apartment complexes are on the north side of Collingwood and and Olive all the way down to the far west uh by Emanuel Lutheran where the old hanger prosthetics used to be that's vacant uh in there. So what we're trying to do is you know put these out there make sure the commission's aware council too uh makes us accountable that we're following up on these properties and and and going through these. So, our goal is to give you updates of who we've talked to, what's going on uh in there and all that. We've made attempts to make contact with uh starting at the the far right end, the 900590 to 101. Uh those are uh apartment properties that are under the ownership of the Quick Trip Co Corporation uh in there. And uh we're we're trying to get some uh property maintenance issues addressed and mitigated in there. And assume that we're moving with the apartments as as is uh in there. We haven't received or had any communications of any uh applications or partitions from them uh for a couple years now. uh 9270 which is the the former property that was proposed for dispensary uh at uh Dolores and and Olive. Um

sorry. Yeah, go ahead. Did you have a question? Oh, I was I just maybe I didn't catch it. You said you had tried to talk to them and the quick trip properties you hadn't reached them. We've we've Yeah, we haven't reached We reached out to them regarding some property maintenance issues. Yeah. dealing with that division, but not the division that was looking or you know looking to redevelop the parcel. That side we haven't heard back from after we've had a discussion with them of what our comprehensive plan was is not in the apartment business which I understand. Yeah. Yeah. They're in the development business. It's just a matter of time. I guess

however it's been how many years that they've owned it. I mean there will be some movement eventually. There are some nullifying factors such as the street behind it is still within the city's ownership and maintenance. Um it would be difficult uh to develop that as a as as as a quick trip um under its present circumstances and zoning. So, uh it's it's certainly a while they are not in the apartment management business, they may own it for an extended period of time.

9270. It's a yellow um building right next to the shops of Price Crossing. Uh we've had various interests uh in that lot the past year. Uh the most recent was for a child daycare center uh which I think you know is worth some consideration uh in there because it's it's just not an ideal location and and parcel uh in there. So uh the issue is under it zoning a child daycare center requires 80,000 square feet of land area. Um and in this case this parcel is probably about 30 at the most uh in there. So, it would require, you know, the the city having a discussion of whether it wants to change its regulations to be able to accommodate that type of use um on that parcel. Uh and that's something that the planning commission kind of discuss talked about last week at their meeting. uh in there. Um and we don't know I don't know where what what that would get, but I don't

Is there an application or a No, we had somebody uh approach and inquire about that type of use at that location and the um planning commission is looking at potential um uh exclusions.

Yeah. Well, not necessarily exclusions, but whether we should modify the code if that's something we would want to promote. uh okay in there or or make the the the code more accommodating to that type of use uh in there 80,000 square feet is a good zoning tool to regulate different type of uses especially standalone uses uh in there our initial plan was to try to get multiple users in one location uh in there to assemble properties and and things like that be 80,000 square feet correct

this one is a little bit more difficult because you have a fully developed center to the east, you got a road on on the west and you got residential properties to the south that are redeveloping quickly. So, uh 9306 and 9318, uh one's is uh one's a a lawyer's office, the other one's the the dentist office. Uh in there, we had some property maintenance issues. Both of them have addressed uh the concerns uh that we've had on those, but at this point they don't have any intention of, you know, any any further plans uh in there. Uh the the the lawyer's office had a a deck that was falling apart in the front and had it tarped over that. They've taken care of that. They fixed that in there. The dentist's office had peeling paint on the west side and they painted uh they they painted and addressed that uh in there. But we'll continue to follow up on on those. They're they're they're nice sites um uh in there. But eventually, I would assume they're they're going to uh you know, at some point, whether it's 5, 10 or 20 years down the road, they'll be making decisions of how that goes. 9345 is ABC Trading. Uh they are going, they're not going, they're closing their business. Uh so there is an end of business sale. Uh she plans to close by November 1st. uh in there. Uh they she had some interest uh on the site by some type of financial company uh financial as a financial user. Uh but I haven't seen anything submitted. Um we do know the the the realtor and we were going to reach out to him because he's got several properties along that corridor. It might be worthwhile to invite to the commission to see what what is he hearing out there? What is he interested along the corridor? And that's Mr. Bond. uh in there he's representing ABC

Trading, the lower level of Easy Storage, and then out at 9719. I'm not sure if his sign is the hangar or the uh the sign company building. Uh but we'll find out. Bond. Bond. Bhan N. Oh, Steve Bond.

9611 is uh Enchanted Bride and unfortunately uh due to some uh property issues, they they did shut down. they they were in the plans of starting to phase out and and and retiring uh in there. But there was some uh some major building code issues and violations that we uh first assisted them that they had they needed to close from the public but could still operate within the building, you know, because she did a lot of seam seamstress and and all that. So, it was mostly offsite. Uh and then we got to a point that we had to close the facility down. Um, I did meet uh

what what facilitated that um that knowledge that it was substandard. The uh fire department does periodic inspections where my department unless we're there's a request um or it's brought to our attention by somebody that actually went in there. Okay.

And in this case uh in one of the fire departments inspect, you know, they do annual inspections. um they noted that there was some issues in the basement and and all that that they that kind of started that that whole process. So, uh they they have indicated that they have um someone who's interested in developing partnering with them to develop the property. Uh so I did sit down with an architect a couple of weeks ago uh to talk about what they were looking at the site uh in there. They seemed like they wanted to keep a lot of that building. Um, what type of end use? Pardon? What type of end use?

It would commercial continued commercial and they had interest in residential. Yeah. So like a dual like multi-purpose.

Correct. Mhm. So, they were interested in how our zoning work and whether that would be something that could be accommodating and it can uh in there. Uh, but they, you know, they they there's a they seem to like that front, the building front the way it is, you know, that glass and then there's a stone side uh kind of looks like a old 60s Highway 66 hotel, you know, along the roadway uh type of thing. and then maybe adding an upper level and then keeping retail with a couple of units on an upper level. So, it'll be interesting within the code we can make it work. Uh, you know, but traffic, the parking and the other side improvements will be the bigger question in there. So, those are the ones I I think you know more on that distress side. 9719 again I I still don't know much on that one. That one was the old hanger prosthetic site. uh in there and we do want to make contact with them. I wasn't able to get uh get in contact with with a representative. But on some other things, just so you're aware, um the US Bank call center that is in the 9300 block of Olive, it's a big 8 acre parcel. Um and there they they've vacated uh in there. Uh we do have a meeting scheduled in a couple of weeks with the um the the current interest in the property. don't know what they're planning yet, you know, but it was I was was able to find who they are, reach out and schedule a meeting. So, um we did have discussions about the lower level of easy storage, the remaining tenant space, and there was some restaurant interest uh in there, but they haven't submitted anything yet. Uh so, uh we're following up to see, you know, if there's anything we can help to try to facilitate that um in there. And then at Olivet Center where Party City used to be uh and I think they met with Don

today. Um Spirit Halloween will be there for 60 90day period in there but they are working with a a potential long range tent retail type of tenant uh to take up that whole space um in there. So we're in discussions with them. I can't disclose because they you know on that. So just to to let you know we're we're working to get somebody into that space. It's a good space. I don't know how long Party City has it under under contract or they're still getting paid from them or not. And there um there was a question that was posed to me too is like well can they subdivide those spaces in there? It it is costly because they they'd have to tear the the flooring, bring in new plumbing if they were to create like if they were to split that space into two tenant spaces.

Yeah. So there there, you know, it can be done, but there are costs to to be able to do that. And we had a similar discussion when they were looking at um um when Tuesday morning had left to see, you know, because, you know, it's got two visible fronts, the street fronts, that was something that they would entertain. And uh they they kind of thought it was uh you know, that that the cost outweighed any benefits because they'd have to bring in new plumbing, provide a full ba bathroom to to whatever other tenant they created and and and all the logistics were just not something they were looking to do.

One thing um I know it's not distressed but it's sort of hanging out there is sandstone and the outlaw of the olive. Yes. So we we went back they they approached the council in February and then they were supposed to come back and give us an update. So, we're reaching out to them to see what what's going on now or where are they and what what needs to be done on that side. So, yeah, we'll we'll probably know a little bit more at our October meeting. But a good point. Yes, Carlos. On those lines, has there been any progress? I know there was some question and some difficulties with the two driveways um with that with that parcel there.

Yeah, that that's something we're looking at. uh the council again uh this fisc year this fiscal year's budget FY26 approved uh for uh our public works director to get consultants to do the um kind of survey the site get a an idea on the cost and do some preliminary engineering for the connection and then that's where we would work with uh the Sandstone group about you know where where would that access be best on their site you the the access on Olive won't move, you know, but how they where they would connect into that. Uh and then we would want the the existing entrance kind of closed off. So, yeah, we we have some funding to do that and uh we did talk because we were inquiring of how we would get Mr. Sang or when we would get him back to the council. Uh so, we we were getting all those pieces moving. Good question. It sounds good. On 9270, you mentioned there was somebody there was originally a dispensary concept,

but that fell through or it was Yeah, there there was a there was a lot of public opposition uh in there and there was some issues with with the overall design and making it work that that just I mean it it was a it's a very constrained site and the axis was probably one of the bigger concerns and whether we could close access points and how that would impose on the on the the side streets or uh in there. It was a tough site to work to try to put a retailer in there. Yeah.

Regardless of whether it was a dis dispensary or so, but someone that would have a uh a high volume that it's a difficult site to work with. Uh the previous users were were service or office type of users. So, they were a little bit more subtle uh in there. Uh but again that you know depending on what type of services you provide it you could be pretty tight in there too. Uh, one of the things which was a a a good thing back in 2006 when they did the shops of Price Crossing, we did obtain a cross access seizement. So that parcel that ever were to develop or get into a special permit type of category, they can approach the the owner of the shops of Price Crossing um and obtain an access point onto there to get the price

cross access from their lot like from their lot. Yes. That would be a good idea.

Good discussion on that. Um, definitely some things to look at. Um, okay. Now, moving along other business, uh, meeting minutes. I saw that stricken from the record, which is which is fine. Which is fine. I do apologize there. Um, I just got back from vacation and that is my only excuse. Well, sir, hope you had a good time. We did. Thank you. But, uh, there are no meeting minutes.

All right. This is a new one. Election of officers. Do we do we have enough people to do that? Is that something you want to hold? Typically, and this is probably the smallest group that has officers in there because there's five of you. The commission had seven u in there. We just did theirs uh in there and I think the parks and wreck has seven or nine. Uh so it's it's something we can wait till the next meeting make sure everybody is is in attendance if that's okay or else your your officers are the vacant chairs. Exactly.

Want me to make a motion? Well, if you want to Can we do Please use your microphone to No, I don't want to. Can we do that in absension? In absentia. Yeah. Can we do that? Wouldn't be fair. I don't uh No, I I don't think that we can just elect the people who are not uh not present. I just kind of want I was simply suggesting that we just renew the two that are already there. that I was going to make a motion to reelect the current officers officers, not not elect somebody to a position that they've never had. That was not my intention.

I put it out there just for breakfast so they could listen to it later when they catch up. Yeah. No, it's fine. It's fine. I just thought I mean Nate's not here so they came. Yeah. I would not have recommended that we appoint David or me as chair. It's definitely high pressuring. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, high pressure. Cool. All right. I just thought we could just check that off the list of things that we needed to take care of. That's fine. Okay. We'll just wait for the next meeting. Okay, that's fine. All right. Um, given that reports, uh, city staff reports,

just a couple updates just so everybody's aware. Start on 170, uh, Olive Cross, uh, first. So, so you see lot three, it's pretty well shelled. They should be doing the exterior finishes uh probably starting by by the end of this week. Uh in there we had the two tenants of course the brass tap and the Paris baguette that will anchor the ends and then uh Verizon Wireless uh and Tropical Smoothie have signed contracts. So there is one more tenant space in there and it's pretty narrow but you know they have an opportunity to get another tenant uh in there. So that's kind of exciting. Um, I know the uh the interior tenants want to get moving and their their hope is to to get their finishes before years end. Um, Friday we did get the plans for the hotel which is lot six. Uh, so we're doing the the initial reviews right now uh with the goal to get that to the commission either late September or early October. Just depends how how how compliant the full plan set is in there. Uh they did change the the the the prototype. It was going to be um a two brand Marriott hotel. Um I I can't re recall what the the two the courtyard and the element I think.

Yeah.

All right. So it's now going to be a courtyard only. And it went from 145 units, the five stories to now it's uh I believe it's 95 units and four stories uh in there. So they did bring down the height and reduce the number of units in there. Uh if that you know continues through uh in there there is still lot which was the uh the office component in there. there was six stories and I forgot how many square feet uh in there but I think the developer uh is looking to uh convert that he's been in discussions with restaurants to fill that that space instead of doing the office building. Uh so

yeah he was he was um yeah he was here and he two meetings ago to talk about that. Okay. And u just um nothing to report though. We still looking for something.

Correct. So, uh then across the street behind the CVS and Chevys, uh the Irvington Place Apartments, that one's going pretty smoothly. Their goal is by uh by early next year to have tenants uh spaces available for occupancy uh in there. a lot of sidewalk work going on which is going to make the the interconnection with the the Hilltop Arrowhead neighborhood uh with the rest of the city really neat uh in there. So that it's been pretty exciting to see uh in there because for the longest time that was disconnected from the city with the industrial park all of 170.

One question just back on the on the hotel uh given that it's um twothirds of the size that it originally was um Is there the parking garage still part of that? Uh, or is it surface parking? I think it's surface parking. I have to take a look. I'm pretty sure it is surface parking. Okay. And there's some,

right? Uh yeah, I I think it's all surface parking. If you look at the development as a whole and consider the apartment garage, too, and and all the other surface areas, I think that it that that it would comply in there, but I haven't seen what if he does the hotels who they are. But my my understanding too, just um given his um A couple of meetings ago, his presentation was the office building is not off the books. If it happens, it happens. Although it's slim that it may

that would be my understanding. I mean that's right. So that has not changed. So right and the office building was subject to that garage. That's what you're asking. Right. Okay. Right. Uh okay. So the greenway component they should be uh starting engineer engineering um next year and which would be 26 for construction and 27 and they're still negotiating the last access point off of Dealman. You know that's been the big hold up actually. You know um that access point off of Dealman that parcel that seven acre parcel

which is the boundary between us and the Um I believe it's um unincorporated area of St. Louis. No, it's overland. No, no, it's it's it's uh as you go down deal, right? Yeah. Like it's HDIS, then the 7 acre parcel with the creek in the north side and then Chicago Heights. No, Rothwell Heights, which is part of the city of Alvette and then the railroad tracks and that is our northern northern boundary. Oh, okay. Right. So Heights is um residential. Yes.

Okay. All right. So nothing's happening with that 7acre parcel right now. You're you're actually um dealing with the current owners about u the greenway going through there and the access point. That is correct. Where the greenway is. Yes. So is the greenway considering pursing the entire parcel? No. Not to the best of my knowledge. No. that that's not on the table and I don't think that the owners have expressed that interest of selling at all either. I'm sorry they've not expressed that interest in selling selling the entire parcel. Oh, so they have some plans

that I couldn't say. I mean, we we haven't seen anything yet. Okay. And it's all industrial. They

sold it the greenway. They could make park out of it or It's possible, but I think when it's a good question, but understand I mean the city went through and did its master parks plan that discussion had been and there was not at least at that time now these plans do change an appetite for adding an additional park. So it could change over time. They could come back and do it in an an addendum for that purposes. But I think for fiscal purposes right now the city and and I hate to talk to that extent but There's not an interest of putting another park there from the city standpoint.

Well, at least it is. And again, I don't mean to talk on behalf of the council because you just got on, but I feel at that time discuss that. Yeah. Well, we've had some discussion about that parcel here, but it's been for sale forever. So, All right. Okay. Very good. Um,

and that that kind of covers I mean we talked about the other sites and there are a couple of things just so you're aware too like on our neighbors. So on the U city side uh you know there the Dearbergs target you know those are planned for early next year. Uh up in front of Deerbergs there are two two more outlets that are going to be put in between the first watch and the coffee shop. Uh based on the plans I saw on their council side, one's going to be a dental office uh in there. So, it could be like an Aspen Dental or something like that. That's a standalone in there. Then the other one shows a two tenant retail with a drive-thru. So, it could be a retailer with another restaurant that that gets placed. Go all the way to the other end on Lindberg. Lots going on there on the on the Creekore side. The uh the the Bear Campus, which they call on the west side, which is the Olio Village. Uh the Shnooks has has signed the agreement. There are plans that show the new Shnooks, some retail, a little Main Street, and then town homes. Um, the first permits that are going to get issued, it looks like, are going to be for the Shnooks and then the town homes, and I think it was over a 100 town homes that they have planned uh in in that back area uh on the west side. But if you get closer to all of that on the east side, uh you know, there the the city is having public hearings about what Bearer is going to do with the rest of that campus because they're only going to keep I I think 50 of it and then 90 of it is going to be sold uh in there. I I believe they have another public hearing

acres. Yes. Okay. And this this is east side. Yes. Yes.

I believe they have another public hearing coming up uh either probably late September, early October. The biggest concerns we heard from that last one were, you know, traffic presenting as many of the trees as possible uh in there because it is a pretty heavily wooded area on that south end of that campus in there. But those are were the predominant comments that you see on their website uh in there. So interesting stuff going in there. The other thing that they're doing is that uh they've already started construction, but the intersection of Old Olive and Lindberg. So you you you have the Kia and the Subaru and then the other side you have the Kia and the Subaru uh in there, but you can't go across because it's a median. So that's that median is being removed and it will become a lighted interchange because the the the 39 north master plan eventually had old Olive as their the the main street for that that development even though there's now going to be another main street on the south side of Olive. So that's a lot of capacity of retail and and things that they're bringing in. But yeah, they're starting construction on that. And then at the old Gracer site, which was the old Quickrip site, um they have plans that have been submitted for a I think it's I'm going to say 150 200 to 200 unit apartments in a four-story complex that would extend from the old Pumpern Nichols all the way to Tyvia

uh in there and then that the building would be up by the street. So we'll we'll see what happens with that. I They're they're just starting the application for that. Correct. The the had any public meetings?

No, I don't think so. I think they just had the application submitted. So, been listened to some of the comments about that parcel before. So, a lot of activity going on there. And those are the updates. I want if there's any questions or D if you have anything else. I do not other than to uh call your attention to some dates on the calendar. Uh and I wanted to these are mostly you know social uh items as uh parks has a lot of activities happening and events coming um about. So, please keep an eye on your oliveette calendars for that as I am not always the most up to date, but I did uh highlight some of the big ones. And then c we have two coffee with the mayors in between now and our next uh EDC meeting. Uh which uh we have gotten off off schedule uh where um if we keep it as we are now it is um August. Our next would be in sorry. Yeah.

Yes. Yes. It's August. Our next would be in October. Um and then the next would be in December. So if we want to stay on that schedule, then our next one is going to be on October 27th at 7 p.m. And then that's all I have. There are any questions? I will send out a reminder about the next two dates uh so that everybody can be on on schedule. All right, sounds good. Um council is on

uh not too much really going on councilwise. Um, if any of you know younger people or have seen younger people on those fast little bikes, electric bikes, uh, we did just approve a new ordinance that helps put some safety guard rails on for those kiddos, mostly their kiddos that are on those bikes zipping around uh, town. There's a lot in the ordinance, so I'm not going to try and explain all of it, but the summary is if you see kids driving recklessly, please alert the police, especially if you see a pattern of reckless driving um to let the police know. No bikes of any kind on park paths that are unpaved and on any other sidewalk or park path or the Centennial Greenway speed limit of 15 miles an hour for all wheeled instruments.

Electric or otherwise.

Electric or otherwise. Yes. Speed limit of 15 miles an hour. Um and then also the the uh council serves as the board for the parks foundation. Um and we did have a meeting of the parks foundation to um to discuss some funding opportunities. Um and it's a very new foundation. So, the council that serves as the board is still working to kind of develop the foundation of the foundation. Um, but I'm I think it's an important thing for the EDC to know that even though the parks foundation does benefit the parks, it's a great way to reach out to businesses that might do like um matching grants or not grant but um you know donations donations. Lots of businesses do that where they have a certain amount of money set aside each year that they donate and they're often looking for partners uh and to, you know, share that information with our businesses. Uh and the parks is obviously doing uh a lot of that work, especially right now with the trivia night coming up on September 6, which if you aren't yet reserved for a table or want to, it's $200 for a table of eight. Should be a lot of fun and it's coming up. So, um, and the only other thing that is not on the calendar here, but that I do want to highlight, and this is me speaking as an individual interested in things and not necessarily me promoting this as a council member, um, is there is going to be a stream cleanup on October 25th for the River Dep. So the river depair trash bash

where is that specifically? So Warren Park basically where where the the headarters of the river deair starts right back down at the bottom the north side of um of Warson Park there and it's so river to pair is a funny river right some of it's underground tunnled other is daylighted some of it is channeled with concrete other is natural uh ground area so we're working with Bruce to identify the best access point to bring folks out. But this is the first year that that section of the river depair is being included in the track bash. So

thank you. It's fun to do. Thank you for including that because that is a really good upcoming event. I also noticed uh harvest festival. I'm not sure what the date is for that. The 25th as well. The 25th. Okay. So you can clean the river in the morning and then come for harvest festival in the evening. Then we can scare people. Yes. Uh with our

And harness festival also this is a change you may hear from people about. I expect we'll hear from people. Um it has been free every other year. Uh when it was Boo Bash. I don't fully know if at some point in time they charged, but right now early ad early admission for children is $10. Um and that includes dinner and candy, popcorn, access to all the events. Adults are free. Um when the early early bird pricing expires, it will be 15. And the reason why is parks has always operated that event at a loss. and revenues and budgets being what they are, it did not seem to be financially responsible to continue to operate at a loss.

Well, anytime an event is free for the residents, there's no revenue. So, the opposite of revenue is a loss. So, really, they were just sponsoring it. I wouldn't say they were operating it at a loss. They chose to spend their budget on something for the residents of the city of Alvette because we do have a a fairly substantial section of our community that really appreciated having that free event. So that does bother me. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Educate. Yes. And I'm sure I'm sure it will bother other people as well. It really bothers um so I think the best person to reach out to would be Beverly. Okay. Um or to speak to the parks commission.

Okay. What's the budget? What's what's the budget that's needed? that I don't know what's for dinner. Uh hot dog, bag of chips, uh and brownie, juice box, and yeah, some kind of just treat of sorts. But I candy. I just plenty of candy. Plenty of hungry. Thanks, man. All right. Um actually Have they have they actually tried to see if they had sponsors? People would want to sponsor that because it's kind of like the turkey trot is sponsored.

Yes. Again, that would be a great question for Beverly because I'm not on the parks. I don't sit as the liazison on the parks commission. Just curious. Okay. All right. That being said, any other business that someone is pressing to bring up? All right. I move for adjournment. I move for adjournment. I will second. Good. All in favor? I I We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Dog