CLAYTON, Mo. — There's a rift in Clayton after the recent announcement by the Clayton School District that it intended to purchase the multi-million dollar former Caleres headquarters in for its "empowerment campus."
Residents and former mayors have raised concerns about the deal to purchase the property, which sits on nine acres at 8300 Maryland Avenue.
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, four former mayors—Linda Goldstein, Harold Sanger, Hugh Scott and Ben Uchitelle—asked the school district to back off its pending acquisition, calling it “unwise to the extreme” and saying it could “drive a serious wedge between the school district and your residents.”
An ad hoc group of Clayton residents, including former KMOX radio host Charlie Brennan, also drafted a letter.
Part of the letter read, "The transaction, scheduled for February 2024, will remove the property appraised at ($33.5 million) from the tax rolls. Currently Caleres pays $1,079,432 in annual property taxes including $101,272 to city of Clayton and $575,769 to the Clayton School District."
Besides the two letters, Brian Kinman, the founder and president of the Clayton Condo Building Association, also wrote a letter to the 2,000 taxpayers that make up the group.
"The immediate impact is a loss of revenue to the school district from real estate taxes of approximately $710,000 per year and a loss of revenue to the city of Clayton of $122,000 per year," the letter read.
The school district's Board of Education sent its own letter Tuesday, apologizing for not communicating better calling its initial communication "inadequate."
"The school board is aware of concerns regarding the perceived lack of transparency related to this potential acquisition, but we want to assure all stakeholders that prior to our announcement on January 2, we were subject to confidentiality provisions that precluded certain disclosures."
The district denied reports of using the land for things like softball fields or tennis courts.
The letter also highlighted the importance of the property's proximity and safety for students a larger school campus perimeter would provide.
"In the letter, (the district is) suggesting all options are still open including putting it back on the tax rolls. Potentially they'd be thinking of selling it a developer," Kinman said.
"Everyone was expecting this property to be sold and developed into a higher value property that would yield higher real estate taxes for the school district and the city as well as sales taxes," he added. "We need a better feel of where this is."
Developer Michael Staenberg of The Staenberg Group has created entertainment spaces like the District in Chesterfield, which includes Topgolf, the Main Event, the Factory and the Hub.
He said Clayton Mayor Michelle Harris recently reached out to him to create something similar in the area.
"She said, 'Our sales base is eroding, do you have any ideas?'" Staenberg said.
After creating the Hub two years ago, Staenberg had an idea for Clayton.
"Why not let us do a Hub-type operation in Clayton ... there's a couple alternatives. I said the best place would be the Caleres site," he said.
The Hub is a 40,000-square-foot outdoor space with big screen TVs, live bands and restaurants.
Staenberg proposed to have office spaces on the second story of the former Caleres headquarters. He said he would need at least four acres.
"I think personally that you could have $30-$35 million in tax sales, which is a lot, plus real estate taxes," he explained.
He said he was negotiating with Caleres when the school district's deal was announced.
"I know there's a lot of different opinions about this and I'm not here to make any statement on who's right or who's wrong. My goal is to win. Our goal is to bring people to Clayton, bring younger people to Clayton," he added. "To me, it’s about bringing people to Clayton."
Staenberg believes not all hope is lost.
"I think there’s a way. How do we work together to create a win-win? I hope the school district and the city can work with us to make something happen," Staenberg said.
A spokesperson for the school district said it is still undergoing a due diligence period before announcing a close date. The next Clayton school board meeting is Jan. 17.