Keeley Joins Developer on $75M Olivette Project
Date Posted: May 6, 2019
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Business Journal: Keeley Development Group has joined Keat Properties on its multimillion-dollar mixed-use project in Olivette.
The $75 million Gateway Plaza would feature more than 100,000 square feet of office space, a grocery store, a mix of retail, dining and entertainment options, and a 135-room, select service hotel at the corner of Olive Boulevard and Interstate 170.
Keat Properties owner and Managing Director Greg Yawitz drew up plans for Gateway Plaza on his own a few years ago before bringing on CEO Rusty Keeley and his Keeley Development Group. He and Keeley connected a year ago while Keeley was a subcontractor on a project at Congregation Shaare Emeth that Yawitz was managing.
“It’s not simply bringing on someone with money. It’s bringing on a partner with a similar vision,” Yawitz said.
Yawitz began buying parcels in the area two years ago and now controls about 85% of the development site. The next step for the team is to acquire the remaining parcel, owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation, once the developers finalize intersection design plans. Soon, they’ll be finalizing leases with tenants and then will submit further plans to the zoning board. The general layout of the redevelopment has been presented to the planning and community design commission, Yawitz said.
A groundbreaking could happen this fall, they said.
“That’s sort of an iconic piece of property,” Keeley said. “From the Arch to the Danforth Center, that’s in the center and ties everything together.”