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Commission reviews preliminary design for Olive Crossing hotel; asks for lighting, materials and landscape details
Summary
The Olivette Planning and Community Design Commission reviewed a preliminary design for a 4-story, 128-room Courtyard by Marriott on Lot 6 of the Olive Crossing development and requested more detailed lighting, materials, cross sections and a landscape buffer plan before a future decision.
The City of Olivette Planning and Community Design Commission on Oct. 16 reviewed a preliminary design for 8950 Olive Crossing, Lot 6 — a proposed four-story Courtyard by Marriott that would include about 128 rooms and an interior courtyard. Staff emphasized the hearing was a design review only; the underlying master development and land use were previously approved by council in 2019.
Commissioners and staff focused on site grading, stormwater, exterior materials and the hotel's relationship to adjacent residences. Staff said the hotel's first-floor finished elevation is approximately 589.5 and that the primary roofline is shown at about 44 feet; the parapet rises to about 54 feet but, per the adopted ordinance, parapets are not included in the measured building height. Staff also noted an existing MSD (Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District) relief sewer and underground stormwater infrastructure on the site and explained that the grading and drainage plan previously received MSD approval.
Developers and their representatives described the design intent and the constraints of a Marriott franchise prototype. Greg Yawitz, representing KOG Hotel LLC, said the courtyard will be for hotel guests only and that the development team will add signage and may provide a decorative railing to delineate access. "This is not a public space. We do not want the public there," Yawitz said, describing measures such as signage and a camera array for guest safety.
Commissioners and staff flagged several items they want resolved before a subsequent design submittal: a detailed lighting plan showing shielded fixtures and color‑temperature controls (staff called out Olivette's chapter 4.28 requirements for minimizing spillover), a landscaping plan that clarifies species and quantities along the western buffer adjacent to Stony Towers, clearer floor‑plan sheets (staff reported inconsistencies between sheets labeled third and fourth floors), and additional cross‑sections showing grade relationships to homes and interstate right‑of‑way. Staff and the developer also discussed the heavy use of EIFS on upper stories; staff noted the city's code treats EIFS as a secondary material and asked the team to explore additional durable materials or fiber‑cement panels along the east elevation to break up massing.
Public commenters from the nearby Stonley Towers neighborhood asked the commission to revisit tree buffers shown in the 2019 materials and to ensure what was promised then will be delivered now. Mark Minton, a trustee of the Stonley Towers neighborhood, said that earlier graphics showed extensive evergreen buffering and warned that many existing locust trees are nearing the end of their life. "We're falling short," Minton said of the currently visible buffering.
Staff and the developer committed to producing an expanded landscape plan, additional scaled cross‑sections, a lighting plan, and materials samples prior to the next meeting; commissioners asked that revised materials be posted at least a week before the next hearing. The commission did not take formal action on the hotel design at the Oct. 16 meeting.
