Shopping center war to escalate

By Nancy Cambria
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Mar. 27 2007

O’FALLON, MO. — The battle is on to keep shoppers and their money in St.
Charles County — and out of St. Louis County.

On Wednesday two developers are expected to disclose details surrounding a
planned 80-acre shopping center at Highways 40 and DD in O’Fallon featuring
anchor style big box retailers, smaller shops and outdoor dining. Construction
on the center, called the Village at O’Fallon, is expected to begin this
summer.

O’Fallon City Council President Peter Cantwell said Monday the retail center
will provide a “destination” shopping experience expected to deter St. Charles
County residents from routinely making the trek east into Chesterfield Valley
and St. Louis County.

“We won’t be leaking so many tax dollars to St. Louis County,” he said. “It’s
great for the city because we’ll be giving residents a great place to shop
nearby, and we’ll be keeping sales tax dollars in city limits.”

St. Charles County’s median household income is $65,630 and tops all other
counties in the state. But the pot gets even richer closer to Highway 40 in
O’Fallon, Weldon Spring, Dardenne Prairie and Lake Saint Louis. The median
household income within a mile of the nearby intersection of highways 40 and K
is more than $104,000, according to the Economic Development Center of St.
Charles County.

In addition to the shopping center, the city anticipates receiving plans for
more than 600 higher-end homes to be built on adjacent property, said City
Administrator Robert Lowery Jr. The entire complex will sit less than two miles
south of the WingHaven development and across Highway DD from the Great Escape
movie complex.

Developers include Cullinan Properties Ltd. of Peoria, Ill., which will build
the 80-acre shopping center, and THF Realty, the owner of 260 acres of land at
the intersection. The companies are expected to present details Wednesday at a
ceremonial groundbreaking. However work cannot begin until the plans come
before the city’s planning board and council. The city has yet to receive any
formal paperwork on the project, officials said Monday.

Although the companies declined to divulge details Monday, officials with the
city said they had been told the shopping center could provide between 700,000
and 1 million square feet of retail space. Chesterfield Mall, about 15 miles to
the east, has 1.3 million square feet of retail space, including three anchor
department stores and a multiplex cinema.

Cullinan has developed two other large-scale outdoor, pedestrian style centers
in Peoria and Bloomington, Ill. The centers feature sidewalks for window
shopping, flower boxes and street lamps, outdoor children’s play areas and
opportunities for outdoor dining. Larger stores include Von Maur department
store, Gordman’s, Target and Hobby Lobby. The centers also feature specialty
clothing stores like Coldwater Creek, J. Jill, Chico’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Jos.
A. Bank and various restaurant chains.

O’Fallon officials said they expect the developers to lure a mid- to high-end
department store for the site and know that Cullinan is currently making a
pitch to Von Maur. However a spokesperson for the chain said Monday the
retailer currently has no plans for a Missouri store.

Von Maur, a family-owned business based out of Davenport, Iowa, prides itself
on superior customer service. With its trademark piano player, it has 22
locations in the Midwest including one slated for Overland Park, Kan. in 2008,
but none in Missouri.

Economic Development Center President Greg Prestemon said St. Charles County,
with an estimated population of 330,000 people, continues to see between 5,000
to 10,000 new residents a year with the majority moving to the south or west.
Retailers have decided the time is right to bring in more sophisticated
offerings and likely are banking on pulling shoppers in from western St. Louis
County, Prestemon said.

“There are Starbucks just popping up all over St. Charles County, and that’s
the leading indicator for this stuff,” he said.

The announcement Wednesday raises another green flag in a series of fast-paced
races along the highway to nab an increasingly lucrative market of St. Charles
County shoppers. Less than two miles away, Dardenne Prairie is currently moving
forward with plans to build a downtown from scratch designed by the same
planners who developed New Town in St. Charles and Celebration in Florida.
About four miles northwest in Lake Saint Louis, developers plan to break ground
on another 55-acre, 250,000 square-foot upscale shopping center this summer.

“This is one of the biggest developments for the city since MasterCard
International picked O’Fallon,” for its global technology headquarters, Lowery
said.

Nancy.Cambria@post-dispatch.com

636-255-7214