Clayton Board Dismisses Proposed Condo Project
Date Posted: December 14, 2019
Posted In: News, Projects,
From the West End Word: The Clayton Board of Aldermen on Dec. 10 dismissed a bill that would have sold a city owned parking lot to developer Savoy Properties.
The space, located at 602 Hanley Road at the corner of Wydown, would have been used for a mixed-use condominium project.
Savoy wanted to replace the 27-spot lot with a four-story building with 15 condo units, a 100-spot parking lot and a retail space. The city was considering selling the property for $225,000. The council started discussion of the sale at an Oct. 22 meeting, during which the project drew much concern from residents.
Discussion was tabled until the Dec. 10 meeting, which was attended by approximately 50 residents and business owners who were largely opposed.
The opposition cited concerns about traffic along Hanley, the size of the project, disruption of the “old world European feel” along Wydown, safety and possible impact to the businesses already in the area and incongruence with Clayton’s existing city plan.
While opponents said they were not opposed to development, they did not believe the project was the right development for the location. Many expressed concerns that the proposed garage would be a prime spot for muggers and possibly rapists.
Zoe Robinson, who owns three restaurants in the area near the lot, spoke at both meetings. She said some people already park illegally in surrounding neighborhoods, and questioned if her restaurants as well as others would survive the construction process, with traffic on Hanley disrupted. She envisions a scenario in which even her longest surviving restaurant, I Fratellini in business almost 19 years, would not survive.
Several residents said traffic on Hanley is already bad and that they expect it to get worse. They cited ongoing work on the Centene project to the north in downtown Clayton, as well as work recently begun on the Clarendale senior living facility at Hanley and Clayton roads.
John Pennington, a partner at Savoy, began the meeting, by saying he had spent “many hours” meeting with residents and business owners such as Robinson, in order to be “transparent.”
One proponent of the project was Kevin Glazer, who owns a business elsewhere in Clayton. He said he was “excited about the project … It can’t be a parking lot forever. It has to be something better.”
Sam Chimento owns two apartment buildings on Hanley next to the parking lot which would have been taken down as part of the project. Chimento said that about 15 years ago he sold some land on Clayton in the DeMun area for a project of similar size. While there was initial opposition, the project now known as DeMun Pointe was built and is successful.
Aldermen and mayor finished the discussion by each commenting on the project, saying they did not feel comfortable in taking a vote on the project.