Missouri’s Chesterfield Mall to re-emerge as ‘Downtown Chesterfield’
Last week, what once was the largest shopping mall in the St. Louis Metro closed its doors. The property will re-emerge, say its redevelopers, as a “Unique 21st Century New Urban Downtown” for the city of Chesterfield, Mo.
In February, the town entered into a formal agreement with The Staenberg Group to demolish Chesterfield Mall and replace it with “Downtown Chesterfield.” On 117 acres of land, the Overland, Mo.-based developer aims to construct 6 million sq. ft. of residential, office, and retail space.
“We don’t want to call it a suburban downtown. It’s an urban downtown in a suburban location,” Staenberg’s senior VP of development Tim Lowe told St. Louis Public Radio. “We’re trying to create something that will appeal to people that are looking for those extra amenities that come with a downtown environment.”
Initial plans for the $2 billion project call for pedestrian pathways that will place all residents and tenants of the district within a five-to-10-minute walk of any destination in Downtown Chesterfield. Twenty-five percent of the project will be dedicated to public plazas, sidewalks, jogging trails, and parks.
A large central park will sit in the middle of the community next to a department store in renderings of Downtown Chesterfield.
Staenberg’s agreement with the city includes tax increment financing of up to $352 million for improvements to public infrastructure--including roads, sidewalks, utilities and parking. The rest of the project will be privately financed.
Chesterfield Mall was opened in 1976 by Richard E. Jacobs Group, anchored by Sears and the St. Louis-based department store chain brand Stix, Baer and Fuller. The 1.2-million-sq.-ft. property changed hands several times over the years.
In 2002, Westfield acquired it and renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Chesterfield. CBL & Associates purchased and operated the mall from 2007 to 2016, when it was placed in receivership, and Madison Marquette took over management until Hull Property Group acquired it in 2018. Staenberg arrived in in 2020 and bought the Macy’s and Sears buildings before closing on the entire mall.
“As we saw them all continue to fail, we realized that there would be a redevelopment opportunity,” said Lowe.
Staenberg is hoping to open 1,000 residential units at Downtown Chesterfield by 2029, but expects that the full development of the project will take 10 to 15 years.
