St. Charles aldermen lift restrictions for First Street project

The type and number of tenants in the cornerstone project of St. Charles' downtown will arrive at the whim of the economy.

Aldermen embraced plans Monday night that lift many of the restrictions on what types of businesses and residential tenants developers of the long-awaited First Street project can market the space to. Some of the initial vision will already fall by the wayside.

For one, a key tenant of the structure known as Building 2 will be a bank instead of a restaurant.

Developers already have a design for the building showing about one-third of it customized for a bank tenant. Keith Kotche, of the development team, said his marketing team couldn't find any interest by restaurants to fill that space. But a bank is already in line to replace it.

Likewise, the residential portion of the building will be an unknown number of condominiums for sale. Kotche said they will build the structure as a shell space. They will then build the condos to suit whatever size a residential client wants. That could mean a studio-size condo or a 3,000-square-foot condo.

"As the buyers come, that's how we'll build it," Kotche said. "And we are going to let the market dictate the uses on the first floor, be it office or retail."

Aldermen asked if rental apartments are a possibility. Kotche didn't completely rule that out. But he said it seems unlikely rental apartments would cover the construction costs and still deliver the profit margin the developer seeks.

For the city, staff members indicated it would not matter very much whether the units were condos or apartments when it comes to paying off the $34 million the city borrowed to help finance the First Street project. Finance director Chris Minick said the key for the city is the new construction - better condos or apartments rather than vacant shell space.

Minick agreed with Alderman Dan Stellato that all the new construction on the table would put a "nice, serious dent" in the debt the city has.

Aldermen unanimously approved all of that thinking in a preliminary unanimous vote Monday night. Aldermen William Turner explained his support comes with the reality that there is more development to come within the First Street area.

"This is real estate," Turner said. "You can't tell someone what to build or what to buy. Let the market dictate."