Community Bulletin Board

BJC finally decides: It's Shiloh
Miles, Shelton selling 111 acres to health system
St. Louis Business Journal - by Lisa R. Brown

BJC HealthCare is expanding its health-care empire eastward.

The St. Louis-based health-care system, which has 13 hospitals, planned to close Jan. 18 on an undeveloped 111-acre parcel in Shiloh, near the Green Mount Road and Interstate 64 interchange. The property fronts the interstate and is located between I-64 and Frank Scott Parkway, immediately east of Dierbergs Green Mount Crossing. BJC is buying the property for an undisclosed amount from developers Darwin Miles and Darrell Shelton, according to sources familiar with the deal. Miles and Shelton bought the highway frontage four years ago and assembled the remaining acreage in recent months. Real estate sources estimated the land could sell for as high as $5 per square foot, or $24 million. A BJC spokesperson did not return calls seeking comment by press time.

BJC spokeswoman June Fowler told the Business Journal in November that the hospital system was scouting sites in Southwestern Illinois for possible medical office space or medical facilities. BJC looked at sites in O'Fallon and in Shiloh. "It's a fast-growing area, going east on I-64," Fowler said at the time. "We haven't settled on, or discarded, any particular type of use."

Both O'Fallon and nearby Shiloh have seen significant population growth in recent years. Shiloh is among the fastest-growing communities in the Metro East. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released in June 2006, Shiloh's population has grown 38.4 percent in the past six years, up from 7,643 residents in 2000 to 10,575 residents in 2006.

Several major St. Louis-based commercial developers have announced plans for projects in St. Clair County in recent months.

Chris McKee, president of O'Fallon, Mo.-based McEagle Properties, said the scarcity of developable land in St. Louis County and surrounding counties is driving developers to Illinois. "We're all opportunistic," McKee said. "Many people view that going westward of St. Louis has reached its outer limits. That causes developers and other companies to look for where the next growth area is going to be. Illinois is the logical spot."

McEagle has a proposal before Shiloh's Planning Commission for a $325 million mixed-use development on 330 acres at the southeast corner of Green Mount Road and Frank Scott Parkway. The proposed Three Springs at Shiloh development calls for several hundred homes, and office and retail space. McKee said any addition by BJC would complement his project. "It's basically across the street from our project," McKee said. "Obviously we are thrilled that they are doing that. We think it will add value to our project and the overall area."

Gundaker Commercial Group and J2K Development also are moving forward on a planned $140 million residential and retail project on 172 acres at Green Mount Road and Carlyle Avenue. Plans for The Villages at Wingate development call for 268 single-family homes and villas, 96 senior-living apartments, 75,000 square feet of retail space, and 60,000 square feet of office space.

"The location that BJC has centered on is the center of population growth for the county," said St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern. "There's great recreational opportunities, great schools and a great quality of life."

Several nearby hospitals have expanded their facilities or have expansion plans under way to keep up with demand for medical services, including St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville, and Alton Memorial Hospital in Alton, which is part of the BJC HealthCare system. BJC has net revenue of $2.9 billion.

BJC's hospitals in Missouri include Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital, Christian Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, Progress West HealthCare Center, Boone Hospital Center, Missouri Baptist Hospital-Sullivan and Parkland Health Center. Clay County Hospital in Flora, Ill., also is part of the BJC HealthCare system, which has more than 22,000 employees in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

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