The development is now quickly rising. The Lowe's and Dierberg's buildings are both up, but unfinished. Part of the parking lot is in place. Arnold Stove and Fireplace will be moving to their new building soon. The Dentist is still holding out and in my non-professional opinion will probably win his eminent domain fight. The VFW post has been open for a while. Church Rd and Mo State are both disasters. The intersection just shifted again last week.



All in all, it's your generic suburban strip mall development. It has completely changed the feel of that area.

I'm out there every weekend for work, so it has been interesting to watch that little pocket change. I think the boring suburbia is better than what was there, but it's still suburbia. I would say it has been a good change.

shadrach wrote:I'd take 'generic surburbia' over 'tired rural.'

I think I do too.



There may not be many fans of Arnold on this forum, and it gets a bad rap by being lumped in with JeffCo stereotypes, but there are some nice neighborhoods (at least by suburban standards) being built, and residents there have many more amenities and conveniences close to home than they would have had a few years ago.



I may not be fond of the built environment there, but I also believe where one lives is a personal choice. So recent developments like Arnold Crossing, and the newer shopping centers on Vogel and Richardson roads are preferable to what was there before IMHO.

As an Arnold resident I can chime in here. Between this development, and the one at the old K Mart properties ( I think that one is actually called Arnold Crossroads), I think it's a step in the right direction to help Arnold develop and shed it's traditional image. It's similar to what Fenton did some years ago. I can remember when Fenton was trailers and the center of town was the old Wal Mart. Slowly we are seeing Arnold go from pawn shops and used car lots to Dierbergs and Lowes. New homes are going up in the 250k + range, so hopefully this will gradually lead to more upscale development (I'd love to see a Barnes and Noble and a Trader Joes).



My real hope is that it increases my homes value so that once the kids are in college I can sell out and move back in the city.

^Good point JC. The wealth generated in the suburbs can be used to to reinvigorate the core city. It has happened before.

does anyone know what's going into the lot by the mcdonald's off of 141?

^They tore down the Steak N Shake there and are building a new one. Is that the right place??

The whole shopping center is being reconfigured, from what i understand. There were a lot of empty buildings in there. They are building along Jeffco/141.

this was a whole forum that sat dormant for 4 months. I thought about replying on this thread (the only one on the forum) but wanted to see how long it would be until someone else did

The main tenant is going to be a sporting goods store, Gander Mountain. They are also building a new Drury inn, and the old Drury is going to become a Pear Tree (or something to that effect. Both McDonalds and Steak and Shake are being rebuilt as well The new S&S is going up now, and the old McDonald should be coming down in the next few weeks.

Thanks! I figured I would learn info here first, if anywhere.

I noticed that the Schnucks down by 141/Jeffco is closed. The Shared Branch Credit Union also closed there too. Does anyone know what might occupy this spot next? It seems that L.A. (Lower Arnold) is much more up and coming and well developed around Richardson, but the north side near this abandoned Schnucks could use a little revival to clean that area up. Hope something good comes there!

It's hard to believe how much the area around Interstate 55, Jeffco Boulevard, and Missouri Highway 141 has changed recently.



Work continues on the shopping center on the NW corner of Jeffco and Highway 141. Arnold Commons, with the Dierbergs and Lowes, now has several chains occupying the outlots, including a Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, and a Saint Louis Bread Company with a drive-through. A hotel is being built on the SW corner of the development by the Church Street overpass.



On the other side of I-55, work is underway to replace the existing Walmart with a Walmart Supercenter. 54th Street Bar and Grill is now open on Michigan Avenue between Kohl's and Shop 'n' Save. And, since there's apparently no limits to the demand for office supply stores, Arnold now has an Office Depot and an OfficeMax.



It's not the kind of stuff that excites most people attracted to these forums, but I'm sure northern Jefferson County residents like the added convenience.

It looks like an Arbys will be going up near the S and S.

a Chick-fil-a is coming too. The new Drury Inn is rapidly progressing as well.