HUD committee backs WashU plan to add 1.13-acre parcel to Danforth Campus CUP

The Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee voted to forward Board Bill 157 with a due-pass recommendation after hearing staff and university presentations on a Washington University Community Unit Plan amendment that would add one parcel just south of the Danforth Campus at Forsyth and Skinker.

The CUP amendment, introduced by Alderwoman Charmaine Clark Hubbard, would expand the existing Danforth Campus CUP to include a consolidated 1.13-acre parcel that WashU bought by combining two earlier lots (6214 and 6200 Forsyth). Planning Department staff described the change as a targeted overlay that adds specific development standards — permitted university office and student service uses, defined vehicle and pedestrian access points, a minimum of eight on-site parking spaces with ADA-compliant and electric-vehicle-ready stalls, height, lot-coverage, landscaping, screening and signage rules — intended to guide a proposed university office and student services building and to limit future noninstitutional uses on the parcel.

"The goal of the CUP amendment is to facilitate redevelopment of the parcel and add specific area standards for the new parcel," James Pfister of the Planning and Urban Design Agency told the committee. Pfister said the parcel is within an area designated in the Strategic Land Use Plan as an "Institutional Preservation and Development Area," and that the overlay provides more precise standards than the underlying A (single-family dwelling) zoning district.

Joanna Schooler, assistant vice chancellor for local government and community relations at Washington University, told the panel the university plans to retain the adjacent single-family house used for university purposes, demolish the former church acquired in 2022 and build a new 25,000-square-foot facility for administrative offices and student services. She said on-site parking would be limited and additional parking would be provided in existing campus parking structures nearby.

One member of the public praised WashU's campus presence but asked the university to do more on sustainability and climate goals in some past projects; WashU representatives said the Tech Den house would be retained and the proposed building would include accessibility improvements.

Committee members had few substantive questions. After public comment the committee voted to move Board Bill 157 from committee with a due-pass recommendation; the clerk called the roll and recorded affirmative votes during the committee meeting. The bill will go to the full Board of Aldermen for further consideration.

Why it matters: The CUP process creates an overlay of rules tailor-made to large institutional campuses. For neighborhoods adjacent to major institutions, CUPs are the primary tool to set allowable uses, access points, building envelope and parking expectations. The CUP expansion codifies WashU’s intended campus use of the parcel and creates enforceable site standards for future development on that property.

What’s next: Board Bill 157 now advances with the committee’s due-pass recommendation. Any changes the full Board adopts could alter the area standards; if approved by the Board the ordinance would govern future design review and building permits for the parcel.