O’Fallon, Missouri – Plans to redevelop the site of a former trailer park into an eco-friendly housing redevelopment will now go ahead, thanks to last minute changes to a tax abatement deal.

The development company, Highland Homes, plans to build a $38.5 million housing and retail complex on the polluted O’Fallon, Missouri site. The development will be called Highland Terrace.

Once completed, Highland Terrace will incorporate eco-friendly design features, such as the use of recycled building materials and energy-saving appliances, heating, and lighting.

The housing complex, when finished, will include around 240 condos, each at an average cost of $155,000. A strip of fifteen retail stores will also be added.

The twenty acre proposed development site, which had accommodated a trailer park from the 1960s until 2007, is currently vacant.

During the demolition workers discovered an illegal dumping ground that contained hypodermic needles, asbestos waste, broken appliances, car parts, and other waste.

The results of an environmental study that was carried out suggest there is approximately 34,000 tons of asbestos-containing waste present on the site, all of which must be removed, sealed according to all applicable regulations, and then disposed of at a site that is equipped to deal with asbestos waste safely.

Cleaning up the site, which is contaminated with asbestos and other pollutants, will have an estimated cost of at least $2.2 million. The city of O’Fallon has agreed to reimburse the $2.2 million to the developers. The money is expected to come from property taxes.

Highland Homes also asked the city to declare the contaminated site as a “blighted area,” to allow the company to qualify for thirteen years’ worth of property tax abatement, according to Missouri’s urban redevelopment law.

On Thursday April 10 the City Council voted 5-2 to declare the site as a blighted area, and allow Highland Homes to qualify for the property tax abatement.

According to O’Fallon’s Mayor, Donna Morrow, a tax deal such as this one—for a primarily residential development—is the first of its kind in the history of the county.

However, the redevelopment plans have not yet been approved: the council is concerned that the plans do not include a method of guaranteeing that the asbestos clean-up will take place. The council will consider the plan at the next meeting on April 24.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am and is filed under Missouri. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.