Sports complex, business development planned for Belleville farm field
A $30 million business and sports complex with flexible tenant spaces and an indoor soccer field is being planned for 30 acres of farmland off Frank Scott Parkway West, across from Belleville West High School.
Tens of millions more will be invested in the coming years to expand the complex to 60 acres, possibly including restaurants and gas stations, according to developer Matt Froese, 46, of unincorporated Belleville. He and his partner are operating as Bonfire Holdings LLC.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from a lot of different parties,” said Froese, owner of Froese Inc. construction company, who formerly worked at Hank’s Excavating & Landscaping.
Froese recently applied to the city of Belleville for a special-use permit to build the commercial complex in an area zoned for single-family residential.
At a hearing last week, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 with three members absent to recommend that the City Council approve the permit. Aldermen will consider it at their April 6 meeting.
“These are the very beginning stages,” said Zoning Administrator Dusty Hosta, noting the developers haven’t submitted a detailed final plan or requested city incentives.
The preliminary plan for the first 30 acres includes eight “flex-space” buildings that could be adapted for different uses, ranging from office to retail and warehouse to light industry.
Froese said such buildings can accommodate businesses that need to expand or downsize without forcing them to move to new locations and start over.
“The flex-space buildings that the developers are proposing are very popular in Texas and other states because of their ability to change the footprint a little bit to meet the most in-demand needs of commercial entities and developers,” Hosta said.
The developers estimate that it will take a year to construct the eight buildings, which they plan to build first.
Sports facility could be rented
The development plan also calls for an indoor sports facility with a full-size soccer field whose turf could be rolled up to convert the space into basketball and volleyball courts.
The facility is in early stages of design, and construction won’t begin until 2028, according to a fact sheet on the project.
“That building will be huge, so it takes a lot of engineering,” Froese said.
The developers plan to rent the facility to public and private organizations for tournaments and other sporting events, graduations, car shows and other large community gatherings.
“The adjacent school intends to use the recreational facility and traffic signal, making the project complementary and beneficial to the area,” the permit application states.
“On-site flex space tenants will provide job and apprenticeship opportunities to nearby students,” it added.
The reference to the traffic signal refers to stoplights that St. Clair County installed but never put into service at the intersection of Frank Scott Parkway and a Belleville West road that remains unfinished.
Belleville Township High School District 201 Superintendent Marshaun Warren confirmed that district officials have met with Bonfire representatives and heard their ideas, but she stopped short of making a commitment on use of the facilities.
“It is a proposal that seems promising,” she said. “We support growth and development in our community.”
Treatment center also planned
The developers have a sales contract on the first 30 acres of land for their project, and they plan to buy the other 30 as soon as possible, Froese said. The property is part of 71.39 acres owned by Biver Farms Family Partnership, St. Clair County parcel records show.
The business and sports complex would be behind a 7.65-acre property with a large home, pond and outbuildings that are being converted by the Karla Smith Behavioral Health foundation into a treatment center for people with mental illness.
“We’re creating something that the region has never seen: a sanctuary for mental health care that feels more human, more helpful, and more whole for families,” its website states.
Canning Properties LLC bought the 7.65 acres from the Biver partnership last July for $385,000, parcel records show. The property was listed for sale in 2021 for $599,000 before the price dropped to $499,000 and then $399,000, according to its Zillow page.
Foundation supporters James and Julie Canning applied for a use variance from the city of Belleville to operate a treatment center in an area zoned as single-family residential last fall, and the City Council approved it.
Now based in O’Fallon, the foundation is working to raise $650,000 for renovations. Its leader, Executive Director Emily Smith, is the wife of Kevin Smith, whose sister Karla Smith died by suicide in 2003 after suffering from bipolar disorder.
Emily Smith expects the Belleville center to open in June.
“It has been an awesome process, watching the community rally around what we’re doing,” she said.
This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
