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CHESTERFIELD
MAY 11-17, 2007
Downtown project enters next phase of development
BRIAN CASSIDY
AEP MEMCO will
anchor new office
building
by Lisa R. Brown
[email protected]
F
orty years after Louis Sachs began
building Chesterfield Village, the
development is entering its second
major wave of development, with new plans
for office, retail and residential space.
Chesterfield Village, developed by Sachs
Properties, encompasses 1,500 acres near
Highway 40 and Olive/Clarkson roads. It
currently is home to more than 1 million
square feet of office and retail space and
2,600 homes, laid out in a master plan
developed by Sachs, chairman of Sachs
Properties.
“Out of all the municipalities in St. Louis, I believe this is the only one that had
a master plan before it was started, and
we’ve stuck with it,” said Sachs, 79.
Of the remaining 350 undeveloped
acres, 200 acres will be developed as commercial properties and the remaining 150
will be residential.
Construction started in March on the
first of two new office buildings planned
for Chesterfield Village in the next two
years. A third office building, with
300,000 square feet, also is in the planning stages. “If we had a large corporation that wanted to come out west, we
have numerous sites for a corporate office campus or individual office buildings
— even a 20-story building,” said Sachs
Properties President Kathy Higgins.
The office building now under construction, Central Park Square I, is a fivestory, 100,600-square-foot building in
the 16000 block of Chesterfield Parkway
West, located in the first phase of downtown Chesterfield. It is adjacent to the library, Chesterfield Mall and the YMCA.
Regions Bank is providing construction
financing for the building.
Mark Knoy’s company will move into 42,000 square feet in the Central Park Square l office building.
AEP MEMCO, the second-largest dry
cargo barge operator in the country, is
more than doubling its existing space in
Chesterfield Village when it moves its
headquarters to 42,000 square feet in Central Park Square I next year. AEP MEMCO
has 1,100 employees, including 115 at its
headquarters, and plans to add 35 employees after moving into the new space, said
Mark Knoy, president of AEP MEMCO.
AEP MEMCO, a subsidiary of Columbus,
Ohio-based American Electric Power, had
$531 million in revenue in 2006.
Construction will begin next spring on
another office building next to Central
Park Square I with 150,000 square feet of
space. HOK is the architect for both office buildings, and BSI Constructors is
the general contractor. The asking rental
rate in the office space is $30 per square
foot. “Forty years ago, this was the edge
of oblivion,” said leasing director Jamie
Marx. “Now it’s the center of everything.
Location is the biggest factor for office
tenants looking here.”
Next to the new office buildings,
Sachs Properties plans to build four retail
buildings totaling 26,000 square feet of
space. The asking rental rate in the retail space is $30 per square foot. The retail space is expected to be completed in
spring 2008.
Louis Sachs’ 1,500-acre development has 350
undeveloped acres remaining.
More office space is on the way. Sachs
Properties has completed the design of
two new office buildings totaling 300,000
square feet of space, designed by architect
Richard Meyer. Those two buildings are
planned for Chesterfield Parkway and Olive Street Road, north of Highway 40.
This year, Sachs
Properties also began construction on
an 18-acre lake and
a 14-acre lake in
Chesterfield Village
as part of downtown
Chesterfield. Higgins
said residents and office tenants will be able to access the lakes
by sidewalks and pedestrian trails. Kuesel
Contracting is constructing the lakes, and
Volz Engineering did the design work.
The estimated cost for the first phase of
development, which includes the first two
office buildings, the four retail buildings,
the two lakes and road improvements, is
$65 million.
The pedestrian trails also will link to
new home developments that are currently under construction. Bruno Homes is
Chesterfield Village rendering
building about 30 townhomes on 3 acres
on Justus Pointe Road and Chesterfield
Parkway it purchased from Sachs Properties. The homes are adjacent to an existing lake in Chesterfield Village. Hayden
Homes has begun construction in Chesterfield Village on 45 acres it purchased from
Sachs Properties last year. Hayden Homes
is building 191 homes, including attached
villas, single-family homes, and midrise
condos.
“Forty years ago, this was the
edge of oblivion. Now it’s the
center of everything.”
[email protected]
Reprinted with permission from the St. Louis Business Journal. ©2007, all rights reserved.
Reprinted by Scoop ReprintSource 1-800-767-3263.
Jamie Marx
Leasing director
Central Park Square I