WELLSTON 鈥 Two redevelopment sites at the center of a political scandal that sent the leader of St. 不良研究所导航网址 County to prison five years ago are back on the market, and this time the county鈥檚 economic development agency is making sure the public knows they鈥檙e for sale.
The St. 不良研究所导航网址 County Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority for the 15-acre Plymouth Industrial Park and 28-acre Wellston Industrial Park, which sit across from each other on Page Avenue just west of the St. 不良研究所导航网址 city limits. St. 不良研究所导航网址 County and Missouri have poured millions of dollars over 30 years into cleaning up the two industrial sites, once home to thousands of jobs at the Wagner Electric factory and the Abex foundry.
The LCRA, which owns the two sites, is hoping to attract development proposals for commercial or industrial development (because of past industrial uses, residential development isn鈥檛 allowed). Rodney Crim, CEO of the St. 不良研究所导航网址 Economic Development Partnership that oversees the LCRA, said the agency is particularly interested in attracting a use that can provide jobs to nearby residents.
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Crim pointed to the on-site MetroLink stop, the new housing development nearby, a business incubator, and the adjacent county-run MET Center job training hub. Plus, he said, Wellston is very close to Clayton, Washington University and the Delmar Loop.
鈥淲e think it鈥檒l be attractive for developers,鈥 Crim said.
Despite the assets and concerted efforts from the county to develop transportation and economic development infrastructure in the area, Wellston is the poorest municipality in St. 不良研究所导航网址 County, with some 40% of its 1,500 residents living below the poverty line.
Yet the county has held the two cleared industrial sites for nearly 20 years without drawing new development. The Partnership did sell them in 2017, but they became embroiled in a political scandal after the Post-Dispatch reported the RFP process had not been widely advertised and they had been sold to major campaign donors of former St. 不良研究所导航网址 County Executive Steve Stenger. The buyers hoped to flip them to a used car operation for over $1 million in profit.
Stenger, his chief of staff Bill Miller and one of the site鈥檚 buyers, John Rallo, later went to prison for corruption. The former head of the Economic Partnership, Sheila Sweeney, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony in connection with the scandal.
More recently, Crim鈥檚 team at the Partnership has faced hurdles getting Wellston city leaders on board with its redevelopment efforts. State law requires a redevelopment plan to be adopted by a city that a county LCRA operates in, and Wellston officials balked for almost two years before finally approving the new study from firm PGAV in November.
However, the ordinance Wellston passed imposed deadlines and other conditions on the LCRA that indicated growing tension between Wellston and the county economic development agency.
But Crim said Wellston and the Partnership now have 鈥済reat collaboration鈥 and that his agency would work with the city as it vets responses to the RFPs, due by Dec. 13.
鈥淭hey are very serious about helping us move forward,鈥 said Wellston City Councilman Sam Shannon, who until recently was also an LCRA board member. He recently resigned from the LCRA, he said, to focus more of his attention on his Wellston City Council duties.
But he said he and the city have a good relationship with the Partnership and he鈥檚 thrilled to finally see the RFPs move forward.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming,鈥 Shannon said.