Twin Oaks approves $53 million, mixed-use development — its biggest project ever | Business

TWIN OAKS • Rezoning for Big Bend Square, a $53 million mixed-use project on the site of the former Schnucks southeast of Big Bend Boulevard and Highway 141 that is considered the biggest project in Twin Oaks’ history, was approved in a 3-1 aldermanic vote Wednesday night.

The building, which had housed Schnucks for about 17 years, will be transformed to have one story of retail and four of apartments.

St. Charles County-based Haley Holdings Seven LLC is proposing the redevelopment of the 11-acre site, including 219 “high-end” apartments as well as revamped commercial use. There will be special “walkability,” parking and security measures, and solar paneling is planned.

The dissenting vote was by Alderman Lisa Eisenhauer, who said she and some fellow residents were wary of the five-story height of some of the project as well as the inclusion of apartments. But others including Mayor Russ Fortune said they admired the developer’s practice of answering questions directly through a seven-month application process. They also appreciated that the proposal was not requesting tax incentives.

The Schnucks has been closed since 2007, when the grocery moved to the north side of Big Bend. The former store at 1310 Big Bend Square has been unused since, and will be razed. Various private proposals for repurposing the building did not develop.

The apartments will include units of up to three bedrooms, as well as a total of 45,000 square feet of retail space. Some retail will also continue in a revamped one-story building on the south side of the site, which now has restaurants and other businesses. Those will stay after the redevelopment, a project spokesman said.

The former Schnucks is directly south across Big Bend from where the new Twin Oaks City Hall is planned. As a village incorporated in 1938, Twin Oaks used private homes and then leased sites for administrative functions. Voters approved a change to a fourth-class city last year.

Development of Big Bend Square will take more than a year, the spokesman said.

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