Politics & Government

Drury Waits for County's Word on Eager Road Access

Access to the proposed Drury Hotel, from Eager Road, is seen as necessary, but will St. Louis County approve it?

The possible 210-room, 9-floor Drury Hotel on the corner of Eager Road and Brentwood Boulevard has the OK from Brentwood’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

The Brentwood Board of Aldermen, at a special meeting on March 14, approved blighting the previous redevelopment area and approved a conditional permit for Drury to develop a hotel.

Drury obtained in Jan.

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The site plan includes access off Eager Road, but what that access will look like is far from known.

The question is, though, will St. Louis County Department of Highway and Traffic will approve access at all.

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The county's approval is needed to move ahead, and all in the room agreed that Eager Road access would be needed to keep a hotel at the corner in business.

George Stock, with Stock and Associates, on behalf of Drury Development presented the problems surrounding an access to Eager Road: It’s a 6-lane road, and most importantly, there are already intersections nearby, at Brentwood Boulevard and Eager Road and Interstate 170 and Eager Road, in close proximity.

He said by adjusting the signal timing at Eager Road and I-170, and the timing at Brentwood and Eager, a signal could operate at an entrance to the hotel without any delays in traffic.

Two traffic engineering firms conducted studies and made recommendations, but final approval has to come from St. Louis County, which could be months away.

Larry Hasselfeld, senior vice president of Drury Development said Drury has the site under contract, but does not own it yet.

“If this property is to be developed as a Drury, we do need to maintain full access to Eager Road,” he said.

He told the council Drury is running out of options to buy the site, and will probably have to make a decision to buy before the final word comes from the county on the Eager Road access.

Councilman Andrew Leahy asked Hasselfeld how they’ll manage the gap between buying the property, and knowing if the hotel will have access to Eager Road.

“We work it out,” Hasselfeld said. “The answers aren’t always here today, and that’s true with all developments.  That will come as we work this through.”

Councilman Tom Kramer told Hasselfeld that many in Brentwood miss the T.G.I. Friday’s, which used to be in Brentwood, and suggested that as the restaurant planned to share the site.

Hasselfeld said there were two very serious interested parties, but he wouldn’t say who they were.


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