CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — The city of Chesterfield will convene a Tax Increment Financing Commission to examine tax incentives for public infrastructure, paving the way for a series of massive projects that would remake the city with $2.5 billion in development.
Developers plan to invest that amount over 245 acres in the southwest corner of the city known as Chesterfield Village, located along the south side of Interstate 64, north of Missouri Route 340 and east of Burkhardt Place. The area is the site of two massive redevelopment plans and the east section of Central Park, the 55-acre city-owned park that includes Chesterfield Amphitheatre and the city's aquatic center.
The $2 billion Downtown Chesterfield mixed-use community planned by Olivette-based developer The Staenberg Group is to replace Chesterfield Mall, at Interstate 64 and Clarkson Road. The opening of a first phase would be years away. Construction is already underway nearby on Wildhorse Village, a separate $500 million mixed-use development at the intersection of Chesterfield Parkway and Wild Horse Creek Road. For that project, St. Louis-based developer CRG, a division of Chicago-based Clayco, is building offices, apartments and single-family homes over 80 acres.
Both developers have said their projects will remake key parts of Chesterfield. CRG developer Jeff Tegethoff previously told the Business Journal that Wildhorse Village will shift the "center of gravity" of the St. Louis region to Chesterfield.
The Chesterfield City Council voted in a special meeting Monday to set up a TIF Commission to examine tax tools that could be used to fund public infrastructure needs related to the sites. The city has historically used TIF only for public infrastructure, and city officials wrote in a memo that they plan to use any TIF to fund public needs, rather than abatements for private developers.
Taxing districts will be notified this week that the city is setting up the panel, and the Chesterfield TIF Commission should start meeting in about 30 days, said City Administrator Mike Geisel.
As part of the TIF process, The Staenberg Group and CRG, the economic development arm of Chicago-based Clayco, will submit redevelopment plans that list allowable TIF expenses.
TSG is still calculating those figures and has not yet identified the total amount it will ask for in its development agreement, but the redevelopment plan is almost finished, said Tim Lowe, senior vice president of leasing and development for TSG. The developer also has another major project to overhaul a mall in Chesterfield, The District, that was redeveloped from the Chesterfield Outlets.
“This is a very complicated project which requires time. We right now control about 70 acres, and we are going to move forward,” Lowe said. “We’ve got a master plan that's pretty much finalized.”
Mall tenants have leases through December 2023, and demolition would not start until spring 2024 at the earliest, Lowe said.
Read more of the story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
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