St. Louis University is looking for developers of a prime piece of real estate it owns between its north and south campuses.
The 14 acres at the northwest corner of Chouteau Avenue and South Grand Boulevard was once eyed by a group vying to build a stadium for a Major League Soccer team, though that effort fizzled in favor of a downtown site that ultimately went nowhere.
The land remains, cleared and ready for development just north of the $550 million SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital that鈥檚 currently under construction.
鈥淲here else are you going to find 14 acres like that in the heart of the central corridor?鈥 said Brooks Goedeker, head of the recently formed St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp., controlled by SLU.
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SLU鈥檚 request for proposals will go out Monday, with developer pitches due by Oct. 19.
Goedeker said the hope is to attract a development that helps tie together the university鈥檚 north campus, dominated by academic buildings and residence halls along Lindell Boulevard, and its south campus, where the hospital, the medical school and the Doisy Research Center are located south of Chouteau. SLU isn鈥檛 looking for a residence or academic hall component, Goedeker said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to leave it as open-ended as possible to allow for creative uses, for creative proposals to come out of this,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he priority is to bring services and amenities to the area not only for our faculty, students and staff, but for the adjacent neighborhoods and the surrounding St. Louis community.鈥
In addition to the half-billion-dollar hospital, slated to be complete in late 2020, the Lawrence Group is working to prepare the old Federal Mogul site nearby for its $187 million City Foundry development of entertainment, retail and offices. Green Street Development also has plans for offices in the old Armory building across Highway 40 (Interstate 64).
The proposed Chouteau Greenway, if backers can find funding, is also anticipated to interact with the site, Goedeker said. Already, the university has heard from people interested.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had interest from both local and national (developers),鈥 he said. 鈥淭hese groups recognize that this is a highly centrally located site that has potential for an array of development possibilities.鈥
The Midtown Redevelopment Corp. has the ability to assist developers with tax abatement and guide development in the area around the SLU campuses. The land, long owned by the university, is currently tax exempt.