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"More than 30 years strong, NCI
plays an important role as the authority on quality of life issues affecting
our community. NCI is 'The Voice for North County.'"
-
Carolyn Marty, Publisher
North County Journal
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COMEBACK
KID
NORTH
COUNTY IS UNDERGOING A REMARKABLE RESURGENCE
WITH 2.5 BILLION IN CONSTRUCTION.
BY
PETER DOWNS
from "St. Louis Commerce Magazine
"
After
being written off as the next step in
urban blight, north St. Louis County
is undergoing a remarkable resurgence.
With new housing and new infrastructure,
the area is attracting the attention
of local and national retailers and
seeing a boom in retail construction.
North
County, which stretches from Page Avenue
to the rivers and encompasses 47 municipalities,
is in the midst of a $2.5 billion construction
boom, according to the St. Louis County
Economic Council. Construction began
on 1,000 new homes in 2002, and Rebecca
Zoll, executive director of North St.
Louis County, Inc., estimates that another
1,500 will be built in 2003 and 2004.
That's approximately the same number
of residential building permits issued
in O'Fallon, the metropolitan area's
fastest growing community, in 2001.
Ten years ago, north St. Louis County
seemed down for the count. Only one
major homebuilder remained in the area,
and it was struggling. Home prices were
sagging and the population was heading
west. Retail construction was virtually
nonexistent.
In
2003, at least three major homebuilders
and three custom homebuilders are now
active in the area, and new retail construction
dots the landscape, from older communities
to newer ones.
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"The
growth in North County over
the last few years shows that
people want to stay in North
County. Our sales have increased
each year." Jeff Bernstein,
General Manager, McBride & Son
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McBride
& Son is finishing up two new home developments
and opening three more in 2003. Jost Farm,
north of Florissant, will have approximately
160 single-family homes and 66 villas, says
Jeff Bernstein, general manager of McBride.
Prices will range from $160,000 to $400,000.
Behlman Estates will have 280 to 300 home
sites. Another site in Hazelwood will have
about 40 home sites.
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Robbins
Mills Estates and Robbins Mill Commons, which
are near completion, have a total of 50 single-family
homes and 38 villas.Bernstein says McBride
was the only major homebuilder to stay in
North County through the tough times in the
early 1990s. Since surviving that drought,
"We've been as successful there as in any
other area," he says.
"The
growth in North County over the last few years
shows that people want to stay in North County.
Our sales have increased each year." Bernstein
adds that though McBride's 2003 plans for
North County are the most aggressive the company
has ever had, they are justified.
"Are
we pretty confident about the next few years?
Absolutely," he says.
Meanwhile, Taylor Morley Homes has two major
developments underway: Alexandria Place and
River Roads. Alexandria Place, on the site
of the old North Twin Drive-In in Jennings,
will have 200 homes and townhomes. River Roads,
on the site of the old River Roads Shopping
Center in Jennings, is a mixed use development
that will include 88 single family homes,
37 villas, 40 townhomes, and a 100-unit apartment
building, as well as an office building, a
day care center, and 12 acres of shops and
restaurants.
And
DePaul Hospital is building more senior housing
for its assisted-living village.
Significant
new retail construction ranges from the $18
million St. Johns Crossing, rising on a formerly
built-up site in an older suburb, to the $250
million St. Louis Mills, rising on a greenfield
site near the Missouri River in Hazelwood.
Walpert
Properties is developing St. Johns Crossing,
a big box center anchored by a Shop 'n Save
supermarket. Walpert is also competing against
a Schnuck's-led team to develop another such
shopping center in Florissant.
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"Clearly,
there is more development happening in North
County than has happened in decades," says
Mark Pearl, vice president of Walpert Properties.
Florissant
Marketplace, for example, recently got a 26,000-square-foot
addition, and Northland Shopping Center in
Jennings is undergoing a $38 million redevelopment
and will be anchored by a Target Greatland.
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MARK
PEARL
Vice President, Walpert Properties
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Ground
breaking at the Cross Keys development.
(Left to right): Douglas Sansone,
Timothy Sansone, Anthony Sansone Jr.,
Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery, County
Executive Buzz Westfall, Anthony Sansone
Sr. and James Sansone.
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The
old Cross Keys Shopping Center in Florissant
is in the midst of a $55 million renovation
that will make it The Shoppes@Cross Keys,
anchored by Schnucks Markets and Home Depot,
and Barnes & Noble. The 350,000-square-foot
center was 100 percent leased before construction
began.
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The
Sansone Group, the developer at Cross Keys
also developed a 50,000-square-foot state
office building in Jennings. Jim Sansone,
principal, says the development would not
have been possible without tax increment
financing.
"We
think North County has had nice demographics
for some time," he says, "but development
in older areas is cost prohibitive without
a subsidy. You just can't buy the property,
abate asbestos, demolish existing buildings
and build and lease new ones in today's
rental rates. We looked at this project
five to 10 years ago, and it wasn't feasible,
because we didn't have the subsidy."
Sansone
also has received development rights for
a retail power center at Page Avenue and
Woodson Avenue that will be called Overland
Trail. The company is pre-leasing space
at that development.
"We're
happy to be involved in the area. We're looking
for more opportunities," Sansone says.
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there are plans for a $51 million dollar redevelopment
project along Natural Bridge in the Normandy
area. The plans call for a mixed-use development
consisting of retail, residential, and other
commercial uses that complements what UMSL has
on their South Campus along with the Metro-Link
station. The intent is to tie the development
in this area to other future development in
the area around "The Wedge" which will become
a pedestrian oriented "urban-village" that addresses
the needs of the University and the Normandy
community as a whole. |
UM-St.
Louis' New Millennium Student Center
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In
other signs of the renewed retail vitality
of North County, 24 new stores opened in Jamestown
Mall and Westfield Shoppingtown Northwest
(formerly Northwest Plaza) in 2002, and the
City of Ferguson is working on a plan to use
tax increment financing to help small merchants
redevelop downtown Ferguson.
In
February 2003, Westfield moved its regional
headquarters to the office building at Westfield
Northwest. The company will oversee management,
development, and marketing of all Westfield
properties in Missouri and Florida from those
offices.
Westfield
also has drawn up preliminary plans for reconfiguring
the shopping mall at Westfield Northwest.
Meanwhile, it is adding family restrooms and
a children's play area, and resurfacing parking
lots.
The
biggest project, a mega-sized project in any
region, is the 1.3 million square foot, $250
million St. Louis Mills outlet mall at Park
370 in Hazelwood. Scheduled to open in October
2003, it will have 12 anchor stores, 200 specialty
shops, theme restaurants, and entertainment.
Why
all the development all of a sudden?
"North
County is densely populated," Pearl says.
"It clearly was under served for quite a while."
Add to all the housing and retail the plans
for a new 500-acre commerce park near expanded
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, the
University of Missouri's ongoing construction
and research park near Interstate 70, the
redevelopment of Christian Hospital Northwest,
the small business incubator and MET Center
in Wellston, and the huge new Confluence Greenway
park plan, and North County looks very much
alive indeed.
Peter
Downs is a St. Louis-based freelance writer.
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