Dirt moving, roads going in at the Summit of Shiloh development

A year after controversial Shiloh zoning meetings that ultimately ended up in approval the Summit of Shiloh subdivision, near the intersection of Lebanon Avenue and N. Green Mount Road, dirt is being moved and roads are being paved as the project is taking shape.

Ryan Florek, of Archview Developers LLC, said preliminary construction started in August.

“The sanitary sewer is 85 percent finished at this point, and the storm sewer is about 70 percent done. So we are making great progress,” Florek said.

The week before Christmas, Florek said crews started pouring concrete for streets.

“The time of year in which we are building now, we run up against issues for pouring the concrete for the streets. However, we were fortunate (earlier in the winter),” Florek said.

Florek said progress from here on out will be “weather permitting.”

In the first phase, Florek said there will be 111 lots with 28 being called the ‘Estate lots,’ ranging from one to three acres in size.

“They’re huge, and they sit up a the top neighborhood closest to Lebanon Avenue, looking down into the valley with the St. Louis Arch in the (distant) background,” Florek said.

Backing up to Tamarack Golf Course will be 17 more lots. This area doesn’t have a designated name yet, but 55 acres is zoned R-1 on with a minimum lot size of 22,500 square feet. The remaining 66 lots in phase one will sit on 114 acres, zoned R-3; they will have slightly smaller front yards, with a minimum lot size of 12,500 square feet, and also don’t have a name yet, Florek said.

“Anybody will be able to buy a house in the Summit at Shiloh subdivision with varying options of hiring a general contractor or bring your own builder,” Florek said.

Costs of lots have yet to be determined, he said.

As of last year, Lisa Johnson of SmithAmundsen in St. Louis, who was representing the property developer, said the homes will be valued in the ball park of $400,000 to 500,000. Kim Littlefield is the owner of both the property and JMB123 Properties LLC.

“We have had an extreme amount of interest from builders, and we are working with four to six for securing lots,” Florek said, adding those deals are likely to be finalized once the roads are completed.

The name of the subdivision is derived from the fact that its location is the “highest point in Shiloh,” according to Florek.

Shiloh Mayor Jim Vernier said he can’t wait to see the valley fill with “top-of-the-line homes.”

“They expect to be building homes in the spring out there, and also will start on the club house and pool, too,” Vernier said. “It’s going to be great.”

Private pool and clubhouse

Florek said the pool will accommodate 175 people and have two levels, with the lower level consisting of one 3-foot depth all the way around. The upper level will be shallower to allow for people to accompany their toddlers or infants while sun bathing, with loungers partially submerged in the water.

“Literally, people will be able to sit in their chairs in the water and be right with their kids,” Florek said.

EWR Architects designed the pool and clubhouse with ground breaking occurring in the spring.

“We’re the only neighborhood in recent memory in our area that is doing a club house and a pool like this — and we are very proud of that,” Florek said.

Local impact

The site, known locally as the Heitman farm tract, is 169 acres of rolling hills that has agricultural since the village’s inception.

But in August 2016, by a 5-1 vote, the Shiloh Board of Trustees approved the rezoning from non-urban to two single-family zoning. Multiple hotly debated meetings took place where residents expressed concerns of negative impact and additional damage to properties in neighboring subdivisions from construction activity and installation of new roads and utilities over an active mine that is already causing damage to existing properties, as well as the sale of homes to buyers with knowledge and unsuspecting over an active mine.

However, Shiloh Trustee Greg O’Neil said he is excited to see the new development go vertical in 2018.

“That’s going to be a nice subdivision, and that’s why I voted in favor of it,” O’Neil said.

The Summit of Shiloh will “help raise the property values” in nearby Meadowbrüke Estates, he said.

“If someone in Meadowbrüke wants to sell their house down the line, the Summit will help with the comparables, and that’s the kind of development we need for our schools, too,” O’Neil said.

Korban Blackburn, Meadowbrück Lake Estates homeowner’s association president, said he hasn’t had any reports from residents of impeding traffic or noise pollution as a result of the development.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Dirt moving, roads going in at the Summit of Shiloh development."