Link



New retail center has hopes for area soaring

By Tommy Robertson

Of the Post-Dispatch

03/04/2005



New retail center raises area's hopes



Retail centers How the Shoppes at Hawk Ridge, a shopping center to be built in Lake Saint Louis, stacks up against some of the area's malls, in gross leasable square footage:

• Northwest Plaza, 1.8 million
  
  Chesterfield Mall, 1.3 million
  
  Mid Rivers Mall, 1.1 million
  
  St. Louis Mills, 1.1 million
  
  Shoppes at Hawk Ridge, 800,000

A groundbreaking ceremony today for a massive shopping center in Lake Saint Louis signals a new phase of development along Highway 40 and is expected to generate millions for the city, officials say.



The ceremony will mark the official start of the Shoppes at Hawk Ridge, an 800,000 square-foot retail project that will be built on a 122-acre tract bounded roughly by Highway 40 on the north, South Fox Hound Drive on the east and Hawk Ridge Trail on the south.



Landowner Don LaBrayere said plans call for the first phase of the development, a Wal-Mart Super Center, to be open by November or possibly by October.



The 204,000 square-foot store will be on the west side of the tract and will be accompanied by a Lowe's home improvement store.



City Administrator Paul Markworth said officials worked with the developer to insure the project would be more than just stores on either side of a huge parking lot.



"We told them it would have to be pedestrian friendly," Markworth said. "There's going to be a lot of flower planting, a lot of trees, and there's going to be decorative ornamental fixtures."



Markworth said the project, when fully developed in about five years, will mean millions to the city as a sales-tax generator. And he noted the new development along with a center developed by the Desco Group, which includes a new Schnucks supermarket, stamped Lake Saint Louis as a new burgeoning retail market.



"I knew two years ago this Wal-Mart project was working the back burner," Markworth said. "But the Desco Group stepped up to the plate and said, 'We're going to invest in Lake Saint Louis and put our money down right now.'"



The Schnucks center opened last summer on the northeast corner of Highway 40 and Lake Saint Louis Boulevard. The center has a 13,000-square-foot strip of shops to go along with the 63,000-square-foot grocery. The development also includes nine lots available for restaurants and other developments.



It was the first new retail project built in the community in 17 years.



"I think having the Desco people do this said (to others), 'We can develop in Lake Saint Louis, and we see Highway 40 as a retail corridor,'" he said.



Markworth said the city is considering plans for another retail development on the northwest corner of Lake Saint Louis Boulevard and Highway 40.



And all of this retail activity is just west of a 43-acre project at Highway 40 and Highway N in Dardenne Prairie, where developers plan to build a 14-screen Wehrenberg Theatres complex, a Shop 'n Save grocery and a Target store and smaller shops and restaurants.



"Suddenly, Highway 40 is being seen as the retail corridor everybody wants to be on," Markworth said.

They need to build another mall/lifestyle centers there IMO, not all these big box retailers.

Link



Officials break ground for county's largest retail center

Mandy Sheets

Of the Suburban Journals

Wentzville Journal





LAKE SAINT LOUIS



State and local officials gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony Friday at the site of the largest retail center construction project underway in St. Charles County.



The Shoppes at Hawk Ridge project will be located in Lake Saint Louis off Highway 40/61 at the intersection of Highway N and the end of the Page Avenue extension.



The 800,000-square-foot retail center will be anchored by the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in St. Charles County and "the most expensive store the company has ever built," said developer Don LaBrayere at the groundbreaking ceremony. The Wal-Mart store is aiming to open its doors Oct. 1, and will be the first store to open in the development. That opening date will coincide with the completion of a neighboring road construction project.



A Lowe's store will also be built in the development, and Premier Bank will open in 2006. Stores and restaurants for remaining retail space in the development have not yet been determined.



An all-inclusive park also will be located on the property to accommodate children with and without disabilities, according to a press release.



County Executive Joe Ortwerth said the Shoppes at Hawk Ridge will "be the Chesterfield Valley of St. Charles County" and hopes it will keep county residents' tax dollars from being spent across the river.



"Other counties have had growth, and now it's our turn," Sen. Jon Dolan said. "I'm very proud to call this wonderful area home."



Mayor Mike Potter also thanked everyone involved in the project and announced the road that the project is located on will be renamed Ronald Reagan Drive.

It would be nice to see a Meijers come to STL, but I don't think it will ever happen with ***-mart around. I usually make a journey to Meijers in Springfield, IL, Champaign, IL, even the Chicago burbs. IMO the quality of the merchandise is better at Meijers and service is better too.







www.meijer.com

Thought I'd post some pics of this development. Space is slowly filling up. Sonic, Auto Zone and Barefoot Flooring just opened and Taco Bell should be open in a week or two. Max and Erma's and a Dierberg's are in Planning/Development

Well, I guess this will be convenient for people living in this fast-growing area. Overall, the development leaves me a little cold. Some of the facades/front elevations look nicer than others, and I don't see anything that indicates pedestrians were anything but an afterthought (if anyone thought of them at all).



For some reason I thought this was going to be more like a mall or lifestyle center, but it reminds me of Chesterfield Commons or Gravois Bluffs instead.



OTOH, I'm not really sorry it's not a mall, because this region is overmalled as it is, and I don't like the odds for prosperity at and around Mid Rivers Mall if another major retail destination is built in St. Charles County. At least that's what's happened elsewhere in the metro area. North County has the Mills mall, which is about one-third vacant and arguably accelerated the decline of Northwest Plaza and Jamestown Mall. Westfield, in their infinite wisdom, extensively expanded South County and West County centers, leaving Crestwood Plaza on its deathbed.



St. Charles County is growing rapidly, but I'm not sure it's ready to have a second major retail node like Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters, especially since there are already several big box powercenters in places like O'Fallon, Wentzville, and Dardenne Prarie in addition to this one.



Ronald Reagan Drive. I wonder what the Gipper would think of this?

I'll bite my tongue and just say that I like when fast food eateries spend the extra bucks and build all brick. Your typical McD's or Taco Bell looks awful.

One would think Truman would be a more appropriate choice. Or if it has to be a republican, why not one of our past respected senators?

And did anyone notice there are TWO payday loan establishments in this shopping center? I thought those only moved into strip malls after the Subway, the Great Clips, and the mobile phone store pulled up stakes for greener pastures. I could draw some conclusions after noticing this, but I'll bite my tongue instead.



Another strip mall. Yea! At least Wal-Mart's front elevation and the all-brick fry pits look nicer than their counterparts in other area suburbs.



BTW, where's the Starbucks?

Tysalpha wrote:One would think Truman would be a more appropriate choice. Or if it has to be a republican, why not one of our past respected senators?

actually St. Charles Cty. already has a Harry S Truman Rd. in the Cave Springs area near the border of St. Charles and St. Peters



and Lake St. Louis contains the most Republican precincts in this very Republican county so a road there named after The Gipper does make sense.

I think John Danforth should have a street named after him, but it should be in the city.

ThreeOneFour wrote:Well, I guess this will be convenient for people living in this fast-growing area. Overall, the development leaves me a little cold. Some of the facades/front elevations look nicer than others, and I don't see anything that indicates pedestrians were anything but an afterthought (if anyone thought of them at all).



For some reason I thought this was going to be more like a mall or lifestyle center, but it reminds me of Chesterfield Commons or Gravois Bluffs instead.



St. Charles County is growing rapidly, but I'm not sure it's ready to have a second major retail node like Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters, especially since there are already several big box powercenters in places like O'Fallon, Wentzville, and Dardenne Prarie in addition to this one.

Across 40 from this Hawk Ridge they are building the Meadows of Lake St. Louis, hopefully, this lifestyle center will be more ped friendly. Down the highway at Winghaven they are planning the village, hopefully, they do the same.



I heard St. Charles Co. currently has about 350,000 people, IMO they need another mall or two. Also more car dealers that sell Toyotas, Mazdas, and even BMWs to Lexus.

There is a Starbuck's, I just didn't take a picture of it. It is in one of the strip buildings that has just one other tenant. Just across I-64 is a stand alone Starbuck's in the Dardenne Prairie Town Square.



Just as an FYI, Lake St. Louis requires brick ans stone fascia on all commercial buildings.

ThreeOneFour wrote:BTW, where's the Starbucks?

314, if you're looking at the picture of Taco Bell with the red car in the foreground, the Starbucks is just to the right. The Starbucks just across the highway from this place (in Dardenne Prairie) opened within weeks of this one. There's also one in the Target in Dardenne Prairie. Who knew they'd go from zero Starbucks to three in less than a year.

Bricks and stone may hide the pig, but peds will never walk here.

The new Aldi's at is open at the corner of Ronald Reagan and Hawk Ridge Trail. It looks really nice, just like the design on the website. This map is totally wrong, but it shows the image.



http://www.yellowmap.de/Filialfinder/HT ... n=&Street=

Looks nice. I didn't know until like a year ago that Aldi owns Trader Joe's. I figured sooner or later Aldi would try to spiff up their image.

That picture reminds me of this blog post. Look at all those triangles! That's totally classy. It's a good thing they build McMansions so cheaply. It's almost like they're admitting that these homes don't deserve to exist for half a century.

I think the house looks pretty good. I can't imagine why they cheaped-out on the chimneys, though. Put a big honking brick and stone mutha on there, and it would look like it was built in 1920 (well, except for the huge front-facing garage, of course).

There is a sign up on the open lot between the Lowe's and Super Walmart. A Sports Autority is coming Fall 2008. There will also be another Jr. Anchor and an additional 10K SQ Ft. Building on this site. No tenants for those buildings have been announced.

datawhse wrote:There is a sign up on the open lot between the Lowe's and Super Walmart. A Sports Autority is coming Fall 2008. There will also be another Jr. Anchor and an additional 10K SQ Ft. Building on this site. No tenants for those buildings have been announced.

They should build a Sams Club or Costco in that area. Still can't believe St. Charles only has one Sams and its at Regency Square in St. Charles off Zumbehl or Costco on Suemandy. You'd think with all the growth towards O'Fallon, Lake St. Louis and Wentzville they'd put another one of those wholesale clubs out west.