Residents Waiting For News On Possible Development Plans Near Olive & 270

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story was mistakenly accompanied by pictures of Orchard Lakes View. Patch regrets the error.

Longtime residents in the Orchard Lakes area are used to hearing from developers who want to kick the tires to see if the property would be available for commercial projects.

Those inquiries were not entirely welcomed in past years. The answer now could be...maybe.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported Saturday that THF Realty met early last month with trustees of the subdivision, situated along the east side of Interstate 270 just north of the Olive Boulevard exit in Creve Coeur. The property in question sits in unincorporated St. Louis County.

The newspaper reported that a letter sent by subdivision trustees to residents indicated "THF would offer to buy Orchard Lakes houses at prices 'significantly above the appraised value" and replace them with big-box stores."

Reached earlier this week, a represenative for THF Realty declined immediate comment. Orchard Lakes trustee Lois Taylor has not returned phone calls seeking comment.

One subdivision resident, who requested anonymity, said she believed there have been two meetings between trustees and THF. She said the second one took place Thursday, and that residents were waiting for another letter from trustees.

No specific offers have been made regarding the property, according to the resident, who described neighbors who had been considering putting houses on the market but were now waiting to see what would happen next.

"This is really a nice area," she said, but added that she was willing to listen.

Creve Coeur Impact

Creve Coeur City Administrator Mark Perkins told Patch that the city has considered annexing the Orchard Lakes area in the past, but he said in an email earlier this week "previous studies have concluded that annexation of the unincorporated areas north of our current city limits is not in the city's best interests."

Perkins added that no decision on submitting a plan to the county to signify interest in annexation of any area had been made.