Friendship Village Redevelopment Plans Approved

Members of the Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen unanimously passed ordinances to approve  request for a zoning change of Sunset Bluffs Subdivision and preliminary development plans in Tuesday’s meeting. The Friendship Village community consists of independent and assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care facilities.

Brandon Harp of Civil Engineering Design Consultants, along with several other members of redevelopment team, shared tentative plans to better “centralize” the existing Friendship Village campus with a commons area, cafeteria and over 400 additional units to encompass all of its facilities.

The completed project will span more than 52 acres to include a small pond, duplex-style cottages, three-story independent living units with underground garages and walk out lower levels, private gated entrance for local police and fire departments and more than 400 parking spaces.

Harp and his team hopes to begin the initial phases by September to relocate Pointe Drive, redevelop five existing buildings and construct a landscape buffer wall along Old Gravois Road. A completion time is set for 2019 but not to surpass 20 years. The duration of the project is based on market conditions and sales.

Despite receiving approvals from the , residents in the neighboring subdivision continue to express their concerns for the redevelopment project.  

Jerry Larson of Sunset Bluffs presented the Board with prepared comments collected from residents in his community and addressed representatives for Friendship Village regarding the landscaping and alignment of the 17 cottages to be built in the complex.

“We want it (the complex) to have a residential look and feel,” said Lawson. He told the Board he feels the project will be “inconsistent with the surrounding areas” and expects the members of the board to protect the residents’ request to keep the residential area.

Larson also requested the buffer wall’s landscaping to be planted within six months of the first phase’s completion of roads, sidewalks and other infrastructures to sustain both parties’ property values and residents’ privacy.

City Engineer Anne Lamitola reassured Lawson that landscaping will be planted within six months of the first phase’s completion and prior to residents moving into the units, as in accordance with city’s current codes.

The public hearing concluded with Harp sharing with Alderman Thomas Musich and the other board members his finding of a market study to assess the housing needs of the surrounding communities and an estimate of how fast units will be filled.