Business Owners In 'Unofficial Chinatown' Remain In Limbo As U City Ponders New Development

As the University City City Council decides whether to pass a proposal to redevelop a section of the St. Louis region’s “unofficial” Chinatown, business owners who would be displaced are deciding whether to begin relocating.

The city council had planned to vote in January on Webster Groves-based Novus Development plans to redevelop the area at Olive Boulevard and Interstate 170 — often referred to as Olive Link.

But the proposal returned to negotiations in February after a University City resident found a roughly $24 million miscalculation in the development’s projected sales-tax revenue. The real estate developer’s plans include building a big-box store — rumored to be a Costco — luxury apartments and a senior living facility.

Novus Development is seeking tax increment financing (TIF), which would allow future sales and property taxes generated by the project to help finance it.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/business-owners-unofficial-chinatown-remain-limbo-u-city-ponders-new-development#stream/0