Crestwood Court City Planner Withdraws from Project

Less than 48-hours after it was announced Centrum Partners has walked away from discussions with the Crestwood Board of Aldermen to go forward with their "District at Crestwood" concept, Sunset Hills-Crestwood Patch has learned the city's longtime planner has also withdrawn from the redevelopment of the former mall.

Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets (PGAV) consults nationwide, and has been Crestwood's planning consultant since 1982. The consulting firm said it did not like its association with repeated board rejections of redevelopment plans.


In a letter to Crestwood Mayor Jeff Schlink, PGAV Vice President John Brancaglione said the negative actions taken against the redevelopment plans negatively impact the PGAV brand.

"Each time the name of our firm comes up in the context of a negative vote, we believe it can be publicly construed that something about our organization is the issue," he said according to an article posted on Call Newspaper's website. "We believe this is not true, but I've had emails and phone calls that suggest it can be perceived negatively."

In that letter, Brancaglione also said he believed the board's lack of understanding of the processes associated with redevelopment of a major property attributed to so many declinations of the proposals. 

"...we are formally withdrawing our proposal to assist the city," he wrote.

To read additional coverage of the contention surrounding the development, click here to read Call Newspaper's coverage of PGAV's withdrawal.