最新杏吧原创

The Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners on Friday voted to proceed with the project. The Bi-State-owned parking lot at the northwest corner of Forest Park Parkway and DeBaliviere Avenue along with the drop-off lot on the east side of DeBaliviere Avenue are targeted for new apartment and retail buildings.

The privately owned strip mall to the north of the Bi-State parking lot is also part of the project, slated for a four-story, 106-apartment building with 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The Bi-State parking lot will be turned into a six-story building with 108 apartments and almost 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Metro鈥檚 drop-off lot across the street would become a five-story, 51-apartment building with 5,000 square feet of street-level retail. Plans also call for public art and streetscape improvements.

鈥淲e are excited to partner on a project that will completely transform the area around one of Metro鈥檚 most popular transit centers and bring new resources and amenities to the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood,鈥� Bi-State President and CEO John Nations said in a statement.

Pearl Cos. Principal Jeff Tegethoff said his firm made an 鈥渦nsolicited鈥� offer for Bi-State real estate and has been working for months on a deal. Pearl has site control over all the real estate, including the strip center owned by DeBaliviere Community Center LP, Tegethoff said.

MetroLink will share some of the 342 parking spaces planned for underground garages in the development and have, 鈥渁t a minimum,鈥� as many as it does now on the surface parking lot, Tegethoff said.

Tegethoff, a 最新杏吧原创 native whose firm has recently embarked on several major developments in the region, said the project will be 鈥渃atalytic鈥� and 鈥渃hange the narrative for public transit in 最新杏吧原创.鈥�

Other than downtown MetroLink stops, the Metro Landing senior living development in Swansea and the recently built Sunnen Station Apartments near a stop in Maplewood, the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station would be one of only a handful of the region鈥檚 light rail stops immediately surrounded by dense residential development.

Joel Fuoss, principal at 最新杏吧原创-based Trivers Associates Architects, which is designing the project, said he commuted on MetroLink for 10 years and tried to design the development from a commuter鈥檚 perspective. Unlike many MetroLink stops, a 鈥減rominent鈥� residential neighborhood surrounds the Forest Park-DeBaliviere stop, he said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 in a really great spot for this to happen and to have a developer who鈥檚 really tuned in to the urban fabric and what鈥檚 going on in other cities ... you add those things together and the willingness of the partners who have been involved and you see stuff like this happen,鈥� Fuoss said.

The project still needs final approvals from 最新杏吧原创 and the Federal Transit Administration. The structure of the deal is still being finalized, so it wasn鈥檛 immediately clear whether Bi-State would sell its lots to Pearl Companies outright or lease the land to the firm. But the neighborhood has already expressed its support for the proposal.

, adopted by the city last year, envisions the MetroLink parking lot being 鈥渄eveloped into something more substantial,鈥� said Brandon Sterling, executive director of the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council. He said the neighborhood hopes 鈥渢he project will be something the whole region will be excited about.鈥�

Located on the northern edge of Forest Park, the development would also be on the recently opened Loop Trolley line, which runs between the Delmar Loop and the Missouri History Museum, in addition to MetroLink.

鈥淲e understand we鈥檙e right smack dab in the middle of it all. We鈥檙e surrounded by some of 最新杏吧原创鈥� best amenities,鈥� Sterling told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淲e really want to show off the neighborhood and have a project that serves as a great entry point and an anchor. It鈥檚 time.鈥�

Pearl hopes to begin construction by the third quarter of 2019 and complete the project by the end of 2020.

鈥淧earl has recognized the opportunity to bring national focus to 最新杏吧原创 by transforming the existing Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station and adjacent retail center into a catalytic transit-oriented development,鈥� Tegethoff said in a statement. 鈥淭he result will have lasting impact on 最新杏吧原创 for generations.鈥�

It鈥檚 the fourth major development Pearl has embarked on in the 最新杏吧原创 region over the last two years. By the middle of next year, Pearl hopes to open the Hibernia, a $25 million, 100-unit apartment complex with a grocery store in Dogtown. It hopes to finish its revamp of the remaining City Hospital buildings near Lafayette Square into 74 apartments about the same time.

In Chesterfield, Pearl plans a March groundbreaking on a $75 million, mixed-use development with a restaurant, 135-room hotel and 173 apartments near the southwest corner of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) and Chesterfield Parkway.

There鈥檚 been some recent big residential developments in the Skinker-DeBaliviere area, too. Last week, plans went public for a $31 million, 149-unit apartment building and parking garage that would replace tennis courts and a pool at 5539-5551 Pershing Avenue. The developer is affiliated with , a new brand for local landlord and developer Asprient Properties. A company affiliated with an Asprient principal also recently completed the at 5510 Pershing Avenue.