Festus officials recently learned Starbucks will not build one of its coffeehouses in Festus, after all.
Previously, city officials said they believed the company was going to build one at the northwest corner of Lee Avenue and Veterans Boulevard (Hwy. A), a .28-acre lot the city owns.
City Administrator Happy Welch reported the news at the Oct. 14 City Council meeting.
Earlier that week the company sent word that it would not use the small plot of land for a Starbucks location, he said.
“They didn’t give an exact reason,” Welch said Oct. 15. “They just said they are not interested in the Festus location.”
He said he could only speculate why.
“I know they are going to look at putting more stores in disadvantaged areas and plan for that to be their focus for a while,” Welch said.
Mayor Mike Cage said Wall Properties of Denver, the company that serves as broker for the city-owned property, will continue to seek a business to build on the site.
“They’re going to try to get something in there,” Cage said.
Wall Properties entered into an agreement with Festus last spring to attempt to develop the lot, agreeing to pay the city $5,000 whether or not a developer is found. Welch said the agreement gives Wall Properties 210 days to find a business to use it, which means the company has until the end of 2015.
In April, the City Council rezoned the lot from B-4 to B-2 because that designation allows for commercial uses on smaller pieces of property than is allowed on B-4 zoning.
The Missouri Department of Transportation gave the lot to Festus several years ago after a department construction project reconfigured the Lee Avenue and Hwy. A intersection.
Access to the property, if developed, would be off an existing entrance to Fazoli’s restaurant, 807 Lee Ave., officials said.
--Peggy Bess contributed information for this story.