Bethalto officials are close to an agreement with an unidentified developer who wants to build upscale homes on village-owned land that was the site of a proposed municipal golf course.
"We have an offer on the table, and we are working through a development plan," Mayor Steve Bryant said.
Even though the developer was the only one to respond to the village's request for development proposals, Bryant said, the plan was a good one.
Bryant said village representatives had been in discussions with the developer on various details of the proposal, and Bryant said he expects remaining issues to be resolved in time for final action by the Village Board at its Oct. 4 meeting.
Bryant said the proposed development would include 150 to 175 houses on about 79 acres. He predicted the houses would sell for $250,000 to $450,000, with perhaps a few priced even higher.
A series of setbacks last winter forced Bethalto officials to abandon their plan to build a $4.6 million, 340-acre golf course and residential development called Village Greens on land north and west of Civic Memorial High School and on both sides of the extension of Illinois Route 255, which now is under construction.
Work on the course began in early 2002 but stopped weeks later when the first contractor, a company based in Florida, quit the job.
A second contractor, Munie Outdoor Services of Caseyville, worked from the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2003 before the project was halted for lack of a necessary permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Part of the property is in a flood plain.
The project was redesigned, but too late to save it. Construction on the golf course should have been done by May to avoid conflict with the Route 255 construction, but it became obvious that that was impossible.
Bryant said that he strongly supported the golf course and was disappointed to give up on the idea but believed that the village's new plans for residential development near Culp Lane also would be good for the community.
"This is the next best thing that could have happened," he said. "It's truly a blessing in disguise."
Bryant said there was growing interest in upscale homes in the Bethalto area.
Village officials also continue to discuss development of another 40 acres of the property with the Bethalto School District, as an athletic complex with two baseball fields, two softball fields and two soccer fields.
About 100 acres likely will be turned into parks or left undeveloped.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Mo.)