From Martin Van Der Werf:



Lindell Marketplace is the closest full-service shopping plaza to downtown St. Louis, but it has gone to seed over 20 years, with poor lighting, a parking lot strewn with potholes and dead landscape plants.



Now, the 150,000-square-foot center at Lindell and Sarah is about to get a long-needed face-lift. New paving, new paint, new flowers -- and, maybe soon, some new tenants.



"We want to make it an urban lifestyle center," says Marian Nunn, chief operating officer for THF Realty, which developed the center with McCormack Barron Salazar. "Based on our strategy for the center, we will renew as leases come up, or we will not."



Nunn says THF has signed some new tenants to make the center appeal more to its increasingly wealthy neighbors, but she wouldn't name names. She says THF plans to spend "several million dollars" on the center.



Meanwhile, renovation of the largest store, a Schnucks grocery, has begun. The chain announced in October 2004 that it was remodeling the store, but the work never got off the ground. "We're going to attempt to create a more updated and comfortable shopping environment," says Schnucks spokeswoman Lori Willis. "We have been doing a lot of research into what customers want at that store."

I'm sure it will still not change much. There is no interaction with the street or neighborhood, It is auto oriented and has no relation to the rest of the neighborhood I know the shopping is needed, but the center could be laid out much better. Really needs more connection to the north. The renovation will be some improvement at least, and as far as shopping centers go, it could be much worse.

Agreed, although there's not much you can really do with the Schnucks part of the center. The portion of the center east of Sarah, however, should be razed in favor of a more urban development (in a perfect world, of course).

This can only be a good thing. That stripmall is an abomination.

This place is an abomination. It destoys the urban fabric and creates a giant physical and psychological barrier between the CWE and Midtown. When I lived in the CWE, I never shopped here. It was too depressing.



In theory, Lindell Marketplace could be fantastic, if they flipped it around and built urban-style stores with large windows right on the Lindell sidewalk. The parking could be hidden inside, as Opus plans at its Park East Lofts project.



Which aldermanic ward is this center in? Is there any hope that the relevant alderman/woman would hold the developers to a higher standard?

LouLou wrote:This place is an abomination. It destoys the urban fabric and creates a giant physical and psychological barrier between the CWE and Midtown. When I lived in the CWE, I never shopped here. It was too depressing.



In theory, Lindell Marketplace could be fantastic, if they flipped it around and built urban-style stores with large windows right on the Lindell sidewalk. The parking could be hidden inside, as Opus plans at its Park East Lofts project.

Totally. Just imagine if the buildings that make up the eastern section of the marketplace were rotated - you'd have buildings facing Lindell and Sarah, with the parking tucked behind them, hidden from view from either street.

DeBaliviere wrote:

LouLou wrote:In theory, Lindell Marketplace could be fantastic, if they flipped it around and built urban-style stores with large windows right on the Lindell sidewalk. The parking could be hidden inside, as Opus plans at its Park East Lofts project.

Totally. Just imagine if the buildings that make up the eastern section of the marketplace were rotated - you'd have buildings facing Lindell and Sarah, with the parking tucked behind them, hidden from view from either street.

Keeping a decent amount of parking is important for this center. The Schnucks serves (or should serve) a larger area than what's walkable. (And understandably, Schnucks would want people to buy more groceries than what they could carry home walking.) But the idea of putting the stores on the front two sides and the parking in back (sort of like Straubs supersized) is a good one.



Glad to hear something is being done to improve this center, though. I'm about ready to move back into the CWE after a 3-year absence.

With key details lacking, city backs new tax at Lindell Market P

(by Rebecca S. Rivas - March 05, 2008)

Those who shop at the Schnucks on Lindell Boulevard or other stores in Lindell Market Place can expect to pay more sales tax soon.



On Feb. 26, the Board of Aldermen’s Ways and Means Committee approved a petition to establish Lindell Market Place as a community-improvement district, which allows business owners to raise money for area improvements by taxing goods.



The property owner, known as Lindell Market Place L.P., could tax consumers up to 1 percent on items bought there. The property is managed by THF Realty.



For those who spend $100 a week on groceries, an extra $1 — or $52 a year — could go toward the center’s improvements. The tax does not apply to Jack in the Box, which recently underwent a major renovation.

Link

This is ridiculous. Shoppers in the city don't have great options for groceries. The Schnucks on Lindell is still in bad shape in comparison to other Schnucks stores even after a produce remodel. People in Clayton and Ladue would never settle for a store like this so why should anyone else?! So now a bigger tax is implemented for improvements?? I for one will not be shopping there anylonger.

The best part of that article is when they quote Jeffrey Boyd: “I wonder if we keep giving these away,” he said, referring to the CIDs, “are we just taxing the public?”



Hmmm, ya think? Good to know we have such mental giants in office.



What happens when the good places in Lindell Marketplace can't make a go of it and get replaced with junk stores? Surely we need a few more beauty supply stores that sell cigarettes. "Gosh these cigarettes make me feel so beautiful!"

Aviator wrote:The best part of that article is when they quote Jeffrey Boyd: “I wonder if we keep giving these away,” he said, referring to the CIDs, “are we just taxing the public?”



Hmmm, ya think? Good to know we have such mental giants in office.

Boyd is also the guy who has tried to block the redevelopment of the J.C. Penney building on MLK - Link

My kids and I love that Schnucks. We usually go there to buy gin, diapers, and blue juice at 1:00 in the morning on Saturdays. The kids are usually screaming because they have low blood sugar and it is about 6 hours past their bed time, but don't let them fool you, they love it there. They are just playing our favorite game. You know, the game where they cry and whine and I yell at them and tell them to shut the ***** up and threaten to beat their asses until they calm down. Its kind of like our little show we do when we are in public. One thing I don't like about the store is that it usually takes me at least an hour to find someone that will trade me cash for my WIC coupons so that I can by a carton of Kools. That is a b****. I am looking forward to the new remodeling. I hope they put in a nice place to get lunch, like Taco Bell. I am a little bit worried though that they might replace more check-out lanes with those automatic machines. I just can't figure those damn things out, and as it is, I already have to wait in line for like 20 minutes to buy my red-hot cheetos and sh*t. Self-checkout is a yuppy conspiracy.

Bravo!! HOF quote worthy TGE!!

TGE-ATW you and your kids sound familiar but hard to pick you out there. =D>

While I laughed as loudly at TGE's riff as any of you, and have experienced each and every thing that he mentioned, I have seen changes for the better at that Schnucks. It's been at least a year since anyone tried to get me to buy their food stamps, the security guards seem more alert, and the minor makeover did improve the atmosphere somewhat. I do most of my grocery shopping there, though I confess the Richmond Heights store has markedly fresher produce, so I slip out there sometimes.



As for Lindell Marketplace as a whole, I'm a huge fan of the Qdoba that opened last year, and it's nice to see the office max as well. Overall, the strip mall now has a better selection of useful stores, and hopefully the trend continues as leases expire, etc.

I have to second Dr. Drew on this one. While Lindell Marketplace is still far from what I want it to be, it has definitely improved as of late. I do my grocery shopping at that Schnucks every week and the product selection and clientele have improved since I first started shopping there.



I actually took some out of town relatives with me there not too long ago. I had prepared them to expect it to be fairly "Ghetto" and it wasn't "Ghetto" at all. They didn't see what the big deal was.

Yes there have been a few improvements but much more can be done. And why should residents continue to have to pay for this? Other Schnucks stores are far superior and the city deserves to have one just as nice as any other. Let's not get complacent on this.

The city does have a really nice Schnucks, its on Arsenal.

That is a nice store. I stand corrected. Why should anyone have to leave their own neighborhood to go to another Schnucks store in another neighborhood. That is my point. They should ALL be nice stores!

TGE-ATW wrote:The city does have a really nice Schnucks, its on Arsenal.

While the overall development might suck, the Schnucks in Loughborough Commons is very well managed (for a Schnucks store).