×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

Kansas City-based Garrison Cos. is pitching the four-story, 147-unit apartment and retail complex to replace a strip mall at Olive and North Graeser Road.

Garrison plans to apply for tax incentives for construction, including demolishing the second half of the shopping center, which is nearly vacant. The first half is already demolished.

Residents in the adjacent neighborhoods are calling on the city to reject the plan.

The complex, opponents say, is taller and higher-density than what Creve Coeur has long considered. It includes a 38-foot retaining wall, taller than neighboring homes. It would worsen noise and traffic, residents say. And it could set a precedent leading to more tall apartments on Olive. 

"It's just so big and so dense," said Brett Berger, a resident and organizer of Graeser Neighbors for Safety, a group that published a website, wrote letters to the council and submitted a petition with more than 200 signatures against the plan.

"We want to see the spot developed but not like this," he said. 

Cecilia Dvorak, a representative for Garrison Cos., said the project, called Graeser Station, is meant to fit the Olive corridor: It's walkable, expands housing options and, she said, fits the city's Comprehensive Plan. 

Mayor Bob Hoffman said the council may delay approval of the rezoning until Garrison requests tax incentives for the project.

"It makes little sense to spend all the energy rezoning it and then not fund it," Hoffman said.

The proposal has sparked concern from residents about changes on Olive, which has seen new and larger real estate developments on corners from University City to Chesterfield. Not a mile away, half the former Bayer campus is being turned into Olia Village, a complex of apartments, townhouses and commercial buildings.

Residents worry that some of the new development, like Graeser Station, is too big, too tall, too much for their neighborhoods.

"Are we going to have a lineup of high-rise buildings all along Olive?" said Berger, who lives across Graeser from the proposed apartment complex.

Garrison Cos. proposed the plan last year, the second development pitched in recent years for the site, which was developed as a strip mall in the 1960s.

The 4.6-acre plot, at 11004 Olive Blvd., was the subject of a court battle in 2022 between Creve Coeur and the property owner, who sued the suburb over being denied a construction permit for a QuickTrip. The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately sided with Creve Coeur, and a gas station was not built.

Graeser Station would be a 48-foot-tall, L-shaped building with retail, a fitness room, an outdoor pool and a restaurant with outdoor dining.

The project failed to get enough votes on the city's planning and zoning commission, which makes recommendations to the council. In March, it voted 3-2 in favor — but needed four votes to pass. Two members of the commission were absent.

Garrison has made several revisions to the original plan in response to resident concerns.

It reduced the number of units from 172 to 147, increased parking from 240 spaces to 260, and made design changes to the facade and landscaping. It removed plans for a dog park, removed a left turn lane for traffic onto Olive and split its 38-foot retaining wall into two separate sections with a 10-foot tree buffer in between. 

"The proposal being considered today is not the original concept — it is the result of multiple rounds of public feedback and refinement aimed at balancing neighborhood concerns with the City’s long-term planning goals for the corridor," said Dvorak, the Garrison rep.

Residents say the changes don't go far enough. 

Bo Shi, whose backyard borders the property, said the retaining wall would be as tall as his two-story house.

"Just try to picture that," said Shi, who has lived in the house for two years. "Literally, if I stand in my bedroom window, I'll be looking at a wall. And right on top of the wall will be a swimming pool."

Garrison Cos. has the 4.5-acre site under contract to purchase from Tom Stern and Gershman CRE. Garrison declined to confirm a sale price.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in council chambers at 300 N. New Ballas Road.

Editor's note: A previous version of this report incorrectly described a lawsuit. This report has been updated.