Ladue School District In Deal To Sell Former Early Education Site

St. Louis-based real estate firm Sansone Group and the Ladue School District have announced a contract with to purchase a 9.05 acre site in the location of the former Ladue Early Childhood Center, adjacent to Frontenac City Hall. 

The school district chose the Sansone Group after a request for offers was issued in August, according to a news release. A purchase price was not disclosed, but the district was offering the property for $1.3 million per acre or for lease at $700,000 per year.

A spokeswoman for the Sansone Group said it plans a mixed-use development with the property, made up of senior living, retail and a restaurant component.

“We are very pleased to be working with Sansone Group toward the sale of this property,” said Superintendent Dr. Marsha Chappelow in a news release. “While there are still a number of bridges to cross before the sale is final, I believe the result will be very positive for the school district, the City of Frontenac, as well as the surrounding community.”

Development may take some time, however, as the City of Frontenac has a moratorium on development of properties along Clayton Road. The moratorium will continue to be in place at a city comprehensive plan for the area is updated. 

Frontenac Mayor Keith Krieg said in an August Patch story that the city had to be careful with the development of properties because there is little land to develop. 

“Whatever we do will last for decades,” Krieg said in the previous story. 

As for the revenue Ladue Schools would generate from the sale, a district spokeswoman said by law, that money has to be placed in a capital fund that could only be used to maintain, renovate or build facilities.

The additional revenue, in turn, would give the district flexibility to use some operating funds which would have been devoted to capital projects, elsewhere.

The Clatyon Road property has been part of the Ladue School District since 1949, and housed Early Childhood Education programs from 1982 to the 2010-2011 school year.

A new Ladue Early Childhood Center opened in the fall of 2011 on the former Westminster Christian Academy site at Ladue Road in Creve Coeur. Next fall, a 5th Grade Center is expected to open at that location as well.