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The school district will provide more details about the Empowerment Campus Project at the 9-acre site on 8300 Maryland Avenue, including the sales price, when the purchase closes in February, officials said.

“However, with its amazing proximity to the Clayton High School Campus, we are excited to have an inclusive place designed to empower our students and unite the community,” said district spokesman Luke Heitert.

Since the district’s announcement a week ago, letters in opposition have been crafted by the Clayton Condo Building Association, a coalition of four former city mayors and a group of residents led by broadcast personality Charlie Brennan. The letters include speculation that the district plans to use the site for a softball field, a graduation venue and special education facilities.

Among other concerns, the letter writers find fault with the loss of $1 million in annual property taxes plus any future tax revenue from a potential retail development — much of which would have gone to the school district.

“To complete such a purchase would cause untold harm to our/your City and to the region and drive a serious wedge between the School District and your residents,” reads the letter from former Clayton mayors Linda Goldstein, Harold Sanger, Hugh Scott and Ben Uchitelle.

The Staenberg Group real estate firm was in negotiations with Caleres before a contract was reached with the school district, according to president Michael Staenberg. The developer’s plans for restaurants and shops at the site would bring in an estimated $25 million to $30 million in sales taxes annually, he said.

“We want to do what’s right for the city and the school district,” said Staenberg, a Clayton resident. “We’re here to get something done that’s positive for everybody.”

In an email Friday to Clayton school board President Amy Rubin, the developer said he is still interested in working with the school district and the city to create something similar to the Staenberg Group’s entertainment venue The Hub in Chesterfield.

“I realize there is a lot of controversy and moving parts, but we can move quickly. I know the city is concerned about security, parking, etc. and we can always address those issues,” Staenberg wrote.

Rubin responded to questions Monday with an email stating, “I have been contacted by several talented developers, including Mike Staenberg. Yes, we intend to close on the property and continue dialogue with the City.”

The current appraised value of the property, which Caleres has been trying to sell since 2021, is $33.5 million, according to St. Louis County records.

School district officials have said the funds for the purchase and development of the property will come from “capital improvement funds” including a future no-tax-increase bond measure.

A statement Monday from the school district said the Caleres site will be used “to expand and improve educational programming for our students and seize opportunities that will benefit the entire community.”

“We intend to work cooperatively with the City of Clayton, as stated previously, throughout this process and hope this acquisition will open doors for collaborative projects not only with the City but with other stakeholders as well,” the statement reads.

But residents opposed to the project said they have little appetite for supporting future tax increases they feel are inevitable.

“For the School District to suddenly commit itself and ourselves to a 20-year multi-million dollar obligation is truly unwise in the extreme,” reads the letter from the former mayors.

The city of Clayton has not recovered from pandemic losses to its primary tax revenue sources of office space, restaurants and hotels. Last year, Clayton residents started paying for trash pickup for the first time to help the city bridge a budget shortfall that is projected to reach between $6 million and $14 million over the next five years.