Target Corp., Schnucks Join Revival at Northland

From the May 30, 2004 print edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Eric Heisler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sansone Group will develop Plaza on the Boulevard, with the two anchor tenants helping to energize the North County location.

Held in limbo for years without a major tenant, a $50 million plan to build a modern retail strip at the site of Northland Shopping Center is back on track.

Target Corp. said late last week that it will be the lead tenant in the Plaza on the Boulevard, which will replace the aging, mostly empty shopping mall in Jennings, according to the Sansone Group, the developer behind the project.

Target will be joined by a Schnuck Markets Inc. supermarket and several yet-to-be-named smaller retailers.

The redevelopment project is part of a larger renaissance that's taking place in north St. Louis County. Older retail sites are being reused, and a housing boom is under way.

"I think this project restores some retail vigor to a community that's been sorely underserved for many years," said Steve J. Anderson, vice president of business development for the St. Louis County Economic Council. "You%'re dealing with an area there that's ... been impacted by the economic downturn. We think this could help resurrect it."

Northland Shopping Center, built in the early 1950s, was one of the St. Louis area's first suburban malls, and it was once a thriving hub of retail activity in North County.

But as it aged, the mall struggled to compete with contemporary, strategically placed shopping centers. By the mid-1990s, most tenants were gone. A final blow came when Famous-Barr abandoned the site in 1994.

Then, in late 2000, Sansone and the city of Jennings unveiled plans to redevelop the property. Within two years, Sansone had torn down a theater at the site to pave the way for the project's $7 million first phase: a new Aldi's grocery and a 50,000-square-foot office building for the state of Missouri.

But plans for a much larger retail center stalled when Sansone struggled to draw a lead tenant.

"It was a combination of factors that slowed it down," said James Sansone, a principal with the Sansone Group. "Certainly, the economy had some impact, but foremost was the image. You have a shopping center that was once thriving and now is dilapidated, and retailers wonder why that's the case."

Along with a 270,000-square-foot shopping strip, the center will feature five standalone buildings around the site's perimeter for restaurants and other retailers, Sansone said.

The project will benefit from about $10 million in tax increment financing, Sansone said. TIF is a method of funding some aspects of a project through future sales tax generated by the site.

Sansone expects to tear down the existing mall and begin construction this year or early next year, in time for the first tenants to move in by the end of 2005. Before then, the developer must attract several smaller retailers and acquire the property.

"We see this as a major opportunity, and we're excited to be part of plans to remake this retail area," said Lori Willis, a Schnucks spokeswoman. The grocer plans to close two older stores in Jennings and Dellwood when the new store opens, she said.

Though the mall suffers from an antiquated design, the corner site is still a viable one for retail because of its relative proximity to Interstate 70, said Anderson, of the economic council.

"I think this was just the process of the evolution of malls," he said. "It's still a major intersection; there's still a major employer next door in Emerson. Frankly, it's still a good location."

Republished with the permission of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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