The Jefferson City Council heard four different bills Monday regarding the redevelopment of the old St. Mary's Hospital, including one that would allow the construction of a greenway trail.
Developer F&F Development will pay the city $15,000 for two city-owned parcels on the redevelopment area, along with dedicated right-of-way to Jefferson City. The city plans to construct a 10-foot-wide greenway trail that would run along the 500 block of Dunklin street and 500-600 blocks of Bolivar Street.
F&F Development also requested the city to vacate a portion of the right-of-way in the 500 block of West Elm Street and 600 block of Walnut Street so the developer could better market the properties. It would also give F&F Development clear title to those pieces of land on the redevelopment site.
"This will allow that redevelopment to proceed," Jefferson City Public Works Department Director Matt Morasch said.
In June, the city's Public Works and Planning Committee approved the development agreement with F&F Development.
F&F Development purchased the site in December 2015 after SSM Health relocated its hospital to Mission Drive in 2014. The developer proposed redeveloping the 113-year-old former hospital using tax increment financing to offset the cost, and the Jefferson City Council approved the St. Mary's Hospital TIF project last year.
F&F Development proposed two different projects for the redevelopment site. One would involve Lincoln University, and was estimated at $44.6 million and sought $7.3 million in TIF assistance. The second possible project would be a commercial-space-only project, which is estimated at $30.9 million and sought $6.7 million in TIF assistance.
Earlier this year, the Jefferson City Historic Preservation Commission approved F&F Development's plan to demolish the original 1905 portion of the old St. Mary's Hospital and reuse the structure's stone for a new building. The developer originally planned to redevelop the building but it did not qualify for federal or state historic tax credits, and engineers later deemed the 1905 building structurally unsound.
Also Monday night, the City Council approved an amended proposal that will allow a per-ride fee for the bulk sale of JeffTran services. Businesses or schools wishing to provide transit services to employees or students can enter into a Universal Pass agreement with the Jefferson City Transit Division.
The city administrator will negotiate the per-ride fee and length of the service. Originally, the bill stated the Jefferson City Public Works Department director would negotiate the service.
Following an agreement, those with that business or school could ride JeffTran fixed-route buses for free if they have their company or school IDs.
Lincoln University partnered with the Jefferson City Transit Division in late January to pilot this program, where LU staff and students could show their university IDs to JeffTran drives and ride the JeffTran fixed routes for free.