The DESCO Group is asking St. Charles for $9.6 million in tax increment financing to help pay for Lindenwood Town Center.

The $69 million mixed-use development proposed at First Capitol Drive, Boone Avenue and Wilmes Avenue would be anchored by a new Schnucks supermarket and include other commercial uses, a new post office and student housing for Lindenwood University.

A 12-member TIF commission met Thursday night to begin the process of considering the request, said Bruce Evans, the city's community development director.

Evans said a representative of DESCO, which is the development arm for Schnucks Markets, told the commission the extraordinary costs associated with site preparation and public works needed to redevelop the area make the project economically infeasible without a TIF.

According to DESCO, 80 percent of the 83 residential units within the site are vacant, and vacant lots occupy one-third of the property, which is owned by Lindenwood. Many homes within the site's footprint have already been torn down. The city is considering what to do with the old Hackmann Lumber building on First Capitol.

The TIF commission includes six members selected by St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, three selected by Mayor Sally Faith and three representing school and other taxing districts.

Evans said the commission will meet again on Oct. 20, and a public hearing on the request is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at St. Charles City Hall. The commission could present the City Council with its recommendation after the hearing, he said.

Based on public comments at previous council meetings, many people perceive the TIF request is coming from Lindenwood University, which plans to build a multi-story student housing unit inside the 24-acre development.

"We're trying to emphasize this is not a TIF for Lindenwood," Evans said Monday.

Scott A. Sachtleben, senior vice president of development and general counsel for DESCO, has said Schnucks would anchor the development, which could include a mix of retail stores and a pharmacy.

Once the new Schnucks opens, the Schnucks at 800 S. Duchesne Drive would close. The employees at the Duchesne Schnucks would move to the new Schnucks, which would employ more workers than the old store.

Plans also call for the St. Charles post office to move into the development from its building at 112 S. Fifth St. That would allow SSM St. Joseph Health Center to expand and build a new parking garage.

The City Council voted 9-1 in May to rezone the development site to two-family residential district, which would allow for the student housing, and voted in June to designate the site as planned development-mixed use district.