A related article on the "Shopping Center Wars" in St. Charles County, including references to this new one:



Source: Shopping center war to escalate



Rumor has it that Von Maur is one of the propective tenants.



Unfortunately it seems that St. Charles County hasn't learned much from St. Louis County (and City) when it comes to fractured revenue streams....the Dardenne Prairie versus O'Fallon versus Lake St. Louis retail war seems to be heating up.

Shopping center war to escalate

By Nancy Cambria

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03/27/2007





The development will be located at the intersection of Hwy 40-61 and Winghaven Boulevard in St. Charles County.

(P-D)



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.



Source

Doug wrote:Pisses me off. This used to be rural, yet everyone is moving out west. The country is being destroyed by autocentric sprawl. New Urbanism is simply a new buzz word.



Green belt anyone?

Someone kill me when the western suburbs of St. Louis and the eastern suburbs of Kansas City meet and swallow up Columbia.

Arch City wrote:
I don't see how Von Maur could pass up this retail development - especially considering their target market. St. Charles County has the highest median household income in the state.



Plus, 600 new homes are planned nearby. The homes are very likely to be mid-to-high end. They'd be silly, in my opinion, to pass up such an opportunity.





The Village at O'Fallon

• An 80-acre development featuring big box and smaller retailers.

• Located at Highways DD and 40 just south of WingHaven.

• City officials expect at least one department store to anchor the complex.

• 600 adjacent single family homes to be built nearby.

• Construction expected to begin this summer.

I'd really like to VonMaur come here, its another nice alternative to Nordstroms....and its way better than gacy's,messy's, or macy's or whatever to call that dirty hole of a dept store.

10-intuition wrote:

Arch City wrote:
I don't see how Von Maur could pass up this retail development - especially considering their target market. St. Charles County has the highest median household income in the state.



Plus, 600 new homes are planned nearby. The homes are very likely to be mid-to-high end. They'd be silly, in my opinion, to pass up such an opportunity.





The Village at O'Fallon

• An 80-acre development featuring big box and smaller retailers.

• Located at Highways DD and 40 just south of WingHaven.

• City officials expect at least one department store to anchor the complex.

• 600 adjacent single family homes to be built nearby.

• Construction expected to begin this summer.

I'd really like to VonMaur come here, its another nice alternative to Nordstroms....and its way better than gacy's,messy's, or macy's or whatever to call that dirty hole of a dept store.

I disagree with you about Macy's. IMHO their stores have gotten a lot better since the change from Famous Barr. They're better merchandised and a lot less cluttered. Brighter, cleaner etc.



Are you telling me the downtown Famous was better 2 or 3 years ago than Macy's is now? (from a shopping point of view: we're not talking about the lost jobs)



Now I tell you who is sucking it up: Dillards. Just go to any of their stores and see how st*tty they are. The Galleria is a dump, Crestwood is even worse.

IMHO, Macy's has done a great job of making most area stores far more attractive and inviting than Famous-Barr has done in recent years. They have done wonders with the downtown store, and they still have more renovation and changes planned. Dillard's has not kept pace, although even they have stores (Chesterfield and the newly-expanded St. Clair Square location) that are fine as well.



Still, Von Maur would be a great shopping alternative, and I cannot imagine why they wouldn't want to locate in St. Charles County given the appealing demographics. I do think it's unfortunate to see so many competing projects in a short distance, as it reminds me of the zero-sum retail cannibalism that's going on in St. Louis County much to its detriment. And I wonder how long it'll take before Mid Rivers Mall starts losing tenants, and worse, anchors, to these new developments along Highway 40.

^ Your probably wondering why I don't like macy's, its because I worked for May Merchandising for 2 years until I was laid off last year. I helped represent the regions that had Famous Barr/Jones Store/LS Ayres stores.



Since the change over on Sept 9th I haven't shopped there. I still don't like what they did to Famous Barr and above all Marshall Fields!!! They may have spruced up the stores, but it just too bad they just destoryed Marshall Fields. Plus, their poor quality knock off brands just don't cut it for me. Now, I've switched to JCPenneys, which IMO has more appealing items than macy's Alfani and Charter Club stuff...and its more affordable.



Back to topic, I think Mid Rivers will be fine from this development since its also near a major highway. However, the new Meadows at Lake St. Louis, I would probably see be more affected by this development cuz of its proximity.

^ Sorry to hear that you lost your job because of the Federated-May consolidation. I wouldn't be too fond of Macy's, nor would I be anxious to shop there, if I were in your situation.



Frankly, though, the only thing I miss about Famous Barr is the name and the local tradition associated with it. Macy's has improved most local stores, and I'm guessing the ones that they haven't improved much (Northwest, Crestwood, Jamestown, Alton) may close in a few years anyway, and probably would have closed even if the parent was still May Company.



I have a couple of Alfani items that I think are nice enough, but I will say that the line is hit or miss overall. My wife has found some good buys with some of the private labels, esp. INC. I guess Charter Club is okay stuff for the 50+ set that was petrified when they thought Macy's would be more upscale and therefore more expensive than Famous Barr, even if it only looks slightly better than Wal-Mart stuff. Other than that, I'm still much more impressed with most area Macy's stores than I've been with Famous Barr in years.



Dillard's seems to be improving, albeit gradually, and they still have a way to go IMHO. Older members of my family still pine for Stix Baer & Fuller.



I don't think Mid Rivers Mall will suffer by any means, because like you said, there are still many people for whom the I-70 corridor is more convenient. Plus, there are a lot of North County shoppers there since residents there are relatively underserved by mall-based retail these days.



The only problem Mid Rivers might have is if the new shopping centers along Highway 40 lure existing stores or anchors away, although that's probably a moot point since I think St. Charles County can support multiple locations of most mall specialty stores. Another JC Penney has opened recently in Dardenne Prarie, so I think the county can certainly support multiple locations of stores like Macy's and Dillard's as well.



Doug, while I'm no fan of sprawl, I cannot get too pissed about most development in St. Charles County these days. In some ways I think it's good because the county is becoming more self-contained, i.e., there's less congestion on the bridge routes as more people work and shop within the county. Plus, retailers are simply following the residents in many cases, which is no worse than St. Louis County where retailers primarily follow the TIF dollars from one fiefdom to the next. I do wish more of the new development would move toward something like New Town, even though I've been critical of some of its design elements and its atmosphere.



However, the horse is out of the barn, and we're 20 or 30 years too late to slow sprawl in much of St. Charles County. I just hope that areas like New Melle, Defiance, and Augusta can be preserved for years to come. In the absence of growth boundaries, those smaller communities may have to consider massive annexations just to keep rapidly-expanding 'burbs like O'Fallon at bay.

Site Plan

^ At least it appears that one can walk from store to store without crossing the sea of parking - it's always disturbing to see that much asphalt.

It's just a glorified outdoor mall, aka lifestyle center.

This looks a lot like downtown Maple Grove Minnesota in the Minneapolis burbs, which is a lifestyle center and the main street of town.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoppes_at_Arbor_Lakes

Any new news on this project? Has ground been broken, any info on tenants or anchors?



Is Von Maur still holding out? Anything on the Drury Hotel planned for this area?

10-intuition wrote:Any new news on this project? Has ground been broken, any info on tenants or anchors?



Is Von Maur still holding out? Anything on the Drury Hotel planned for this area?

Cullinan backed out a few months ago when they signed on to take over the The Plaza at Noah's Ark project. Cullinan said the reason they backed out was because THF was being to strict on some design elements of the shopping center. I think the real reason they backed out though was because all of the retailers Cullinan had expected to sign on with them ended up signing on at Davis Street Land's project The Meadows at Lake St. Louis just down Highway 40. Cullinan just used THF's strict design elements has an excuse to get out of the project.