A Missouri Senate committee considered a bill Wednesday that would transfer a small plot of state-owned land to Jefferson City-based Farmer Holding Company as it redevelops the adjacent historic St. Mary's Hospital site.
State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, who sponsored the bill, told the committee the plot measures only a few feet wide and would correct mistakes made when state engineers moved Wears Creek decades ago to build U.S. 54.
The plot of land sits across Missouri Boulevard from the old St. Mary's Hospital property and adjacent to Wears Creek. Kehoe told the committee St. Mary's included the land in its original 1905 deed. Decades ago, when the state built nearby U.S. 54, a small portion of the land mistakenly transferred hands to the state.
If the Legislature approves the bill, the land's ownership would transfer to Farmer Holding Company subsidiary F&F Development.
As it stands, Kehoe said, the square footage on the state-owned property is extremely small.
"It's a slice," Kehoe said. "It's really more about the legal definition of what the land is doesn't match where the surveyor's stake goes in the ground."
Farmer Holding Company representatives did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Last year, the company proposed building a $44.6 million project involving Lincoln University or a $30.9 million project creating only commercial space. The company sought $7.3 million in tax increment financing assistance for a project that would involve Lincoln University or $6.7 million for a commercial development-only project. The company said at the time it needed the taxpayer funding to make the project feasible and turn it into a site for restaurant, retail and office space.
The Jefferson City Council approved a TIF plan for the site last August.
Under the first proposed plan, Lincoln University would use parts of the old hospital for an expansion of its nursing program or other programs. The LU project would contain four pads with 21,000 square feet of commercial space.
If the Lincoln project does not come to fruition, the commercial project would construct six pads with 30,200 feet of commercial space.
Under both plans, a medical office building and the 112-year-old St. Mary's Hospital building would remain standing and be converted into offices.
Both projects plan to construct buildings on both sides of Missouri Boulevard where a vacant St. Mary's parking lot and another vacant lot sit next to Wears Creek.
Farmer Holding Company representatives said throughout the approval process they would prefer the Lincoln project. But last fall, city leaders acknowledged because of recent funding cuts to cuts to Lincoln's budget and a 5 percent drop in enrollment, the university likely will not participate in the project.
Lincoln University spokeswoman Misty Young said in August the university felt "glad to still be in consideration for this project."
"The university is still in discussions regarding the redevelopment," Young said Wednesday.