Inside Propper Construction Services’ $200M Metlife Campus
Date Posted: May 4, 2021
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Business Journal: Tim Breece has found a niche in breathing new life into properties that have reached the end of their original, intended purpose. His newest attempt at that will be the largest yet for Breece, president of St. Charles-based developer and constructor Propper Construction Services.
Propper last month unveiled plans to turn the former 100-acre South County campus of insurance firm MetLife into a massive residential development with nearly 400 housing units. It’s a $200 million project the developer says provides the chance for an adaptive reuse of the corporate campus while also bringing an influx of new, high-end housing to an area of the St. Louis region it believes is ripe for it.
The proposed project, called Tesson Ridge, will include a mix of multifamily and single-family housing as well as a commercial component spread across four distinct developments at the site. It’s ocated between Tesson Ferry Road and Keller Road, about 2 miles south of the Interstate 270 and Highway 21 interchange.
The four components of the project include:
- The Manors at Tesson Ridge, which will feature single-family homes. Homes are expected to be priced between the low $500,000s to $1 million-plus. The development will be limited to 110 homes. The developer is currently conducting a search for a homebuilder.
- The Residences at Tesson Ridge, which will consist of luxury apartments totaling around 210 units described as “upscale,” with amenities such as a fitness center, swimming pool, sports courts and community room.
- The Villas at Tesson Ridge, which will include up to 60 single-family homes starting at $250,000.
- The Shops at Tesson Ridge, which will include a mix of retail, restaurant, office and medical tenants.
MetLife vacated the 100-acre campus in 2019 when it relocated employees to a new office in Creve Coeur. The site had served as the longtime home for General American Life Insurance Co., formerly one of St. Louis’ biggest privately held companies with $3.9 billion in revenue before MetLife acquired it in 1999. MetLife left behind about 650,000 square feet of existing buildings, which Propper intends to adapt into the multifamily portion of the project. Breece said the structure of the former office facility allows for “oversized” units and floor-to-ceiling windows that will look out at trails and an existing lake on the property.