Walmart: Game Back On In Ellisville?

An attorney for the developer which has been working to bring a Walmart to the city of Ellisville is suggesting that the retail giant is now "definitely recommitted to the project,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 

John Hessel's comments to the publication, which he confirmed to Patch Friday afternoon, come as a Walmart spokeswoman is telling the Post-Dispatch and KMOX Radio that “Walmart remains interested in being a part of the Ellisville community and better serving our customers."

Earlier this month, the same spokeswoman said the company was walking away from the project, which would be funded by Tax Increment Financing and has been a source of community controversy for several years. It would be located West of Kiefer Creek Road on Manchester Road.

Walmart's move to back out came as the one year deadline for construction to start on the site was coming due. A lawsuit filed by a resident challenging the conditional use permit delayed Sansone's efforts to buy up property for the project. The permit was upheld by the state court of Appeals. Sansone obtained some of the land needed for the project and began some site work in the days leading up Walmart's move to back away. 

The Ellisville City Council earlier this week convened a hearing that could have led to revocation of the project's conditional use permit. Sansone contested the hearing, which could be continued to next week's City Council meeting once administrative issues relating to how the hearing should be conducted are resolved.

Hessel said his client would not have contested the revocation hearing had Walmart not come back to the table in support of the project. 

Walmart spokeswoman Erica Jones did not return a message seeking comment Friday.