City eyes $400 million housing development

CASEYVILLE, Ill. -- The Metro East area outside St. Louis has attracted developers in droves, state and local officials said. Thirty-nine developments have been planned for the area, Illinois Department of Transportation district engineer Mary Lamie told the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. Twenty-one of the projects are in St. Clair County, 10 in Monroe County and eight in Madison County, Lamie said. The latest project is a $400 million, 625-home development located in Caseyville and tentatively named Forest Lakes, village Treasurer Rick Casey said. Work could begin in April and could take five to 10 years.

"It's the most exciting thing to happen in this town," Casey said.

Caseyville is not the only village in the area that has been preparing for an influx of houses, apartments and commercial buildings. Other developments announced within last eight months include a 400-lot subdivision near O'Fallon, a 390-home project in Belleville, and an 84-unit apartment complex in East St. Louis.

A feasibility study conducted between 1999 and 2001 concluded that the population along a proposed Illinois 158 outer belt corridor could increase as much as 25 percent by 2020.

"This means there are lot of very good things coming to this area," Lamie said.

Developers were drawn to the Metro East because of its attractive, hilly landscape, said Michael Egan, president of Caseyville Sport Choice LLC, the subsidiary in charge of building Forest Lakes.

"From the real estate side, it's good with its location to downtown St. Louis," Egan said. "The site is a beautiful site and very unique for that part of the country."

Egan said developers will also build a walking trail, equestrian center, swimming pool and lakes for fishing and outdoor recreation.

The company will also donate land for a park and elementary school, Egan said.