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$3 Billion Chesterfield Mall Redevelopment? School Districts Don't Like The TIF

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Redevelopment Of Chesterfield Mall - Rendering by The Staenberg Group

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — A massive $3 billion planned redevelopment of the languishing Chesterfield Mall has pitted the City of Chesterfield against local school districts. At issue: the $353 million tax incentive financing (TIF) requested by developers The Staenberg Group and CRG.

The City of Chesterfield projects the mall redevelopment will bring up to 236 new students into the districts; on the other hand, Parkway and Rockwood school districts say the redevelopment will bring 842 new students. The districts have opposed the TIF, saying the large influx of students will come without additional tax revenue to pay for them.

The City of Chesterfield's TIF commission will meet on Monday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. to hear from the public and then decide on a recommendation for the TIF request. Typically, TIF commission recommendations are confirmed by the city council.

The Staenberg Group is a national developer and is well-known at Lake of the Ozarks, having built the Osage Commons project in Osage Beach, where anchor store Hobby Lobby opened in 2022. Staenberg received a TIF from the City of Osage Beach for that project. CRG Operating Partner Jeff Tegethoff is also a recent arrival in the Lake of the Ozarks development scene: his company Tegethoff Development is planning a $63 million apartment complex on Nichols Road in Osage Beach dubbed The Reserve at Sycamore Creek. Tegethoff is also one of the developers involved with the recently announced $300 million tourism district The Oasis at Lakeport.

For The Reserve at Sycamore Creek, Tegethoff requested and received a Chapter 353 tax abatement, similar to a TIF, valued at approximately $2.5 million. That tax abatement request met with pushback from the Camdenton R-III School District similar to the resistance Staenberg and CRG are receiving from Parkway and Rockwood school districts for their Chesterfield Mall project.

Additional LakeExpo coverage of the Lake area developments is below, as well as St. Louis Post-Dispatch coverage of the Chesterfield Mall project. (Note, the original TIF commission meeting scheduled for Nov. 15, mentioned in the Post-Dispatch article, has been rescheduled for Nov. 21.)

 

Republished article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Nov. 2—CHESTERFIELD — A public hearing over a $353 million tax incentive package for two sweeping developments poised to add thousands of apartments and townhomes and numerous shops and restaurants here came down to whose projections are right: the city's or the school districts'.

The city of Chesterfield and Parkway and Rockwood school districts provided vastly different projections of the number of new students the $3 billion developments — which entails a redevelopment of the Chesterfield Mall — will attract and what impact they will have on the districts.

The city projects the developments at Chesterfield Parkway West and Wild Horse Creek Road will add up to 236 new students versus an estimate of 842 from the districts.

A 12-member commission convened by the city to weigh whether to recommend the $353 million tax increment financing took no action Tuesday night. It will meet at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 to make its recommendation. The Chesterfield City Council has final say on whether to approve the TIF and does not have to follow the commission's recommendation.

The TIF would be used to pay for public infrastructure, such as parking garages and new roads, related to the two separate projects, led by Overland-based developers The Staenberg Group and CRG. Chesterfield officials have said that none of the TIF money will go towards developers' improvements.

The TIF commission, which consists of representatives from St. Louis County, city residents and the school districts, heard from about a dozen speakers for and against the TIF at Tuesday's meeting. The current and former mayors of Chesterfield also spoke.

The district did not offer comment during the meeting, but several parents of students in the district spoke against the TIF, citing concerns that tax money would be diverted from the schools.

A TIF freezes a tax rate for the property for up to 23 years. As real estate appreciates in value, a TIF "captures" that increase from the base rate and uses those funds for other uses. The TIF will also capture 50% of sales and utility taxes from the development for other uses.

The Staenberg Group plans to demolish the Chesterfield Mall to make way for a "downtown Chesterfield" — a plan that calls for a 259-room hotel, nearly 3,000 housing units, and millions of square feet of office and retail space. CRG plans entail nearly 1 million square feet of retail and restaurant space, a public terrace and over 565 housing units just west of the mall.

Both projects are ambitious and stand to change the landscape of Chesterfield, which has transformed from a fledgling city inundated by the Flood of '93 to a powerhouse shopping destination with desirable school districts and one of the highest median household incomes in the region.

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(c)2022 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 



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