After nearly 50 years, it really is the beginning of the end for the Chesterfield Mall.
Demolition crews began taking down parts of the shuttered mall Tuesday morning, launching what will be a yearslong process to transform the site into a 90-acre, high-density hub in west St. Louis County.
The Staenberg Group has plans to redevelop the site into “Downtown Chesterfield.” The $2 billion project will build 2,700 new residential units and millions of square feet for office, retail, grocery, restaurant or other uses. Tax increment financing from the City of Chesterfield will cover up to $352 million of the project for improvements to public infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks, utilities and parking.
“This will be the next focal point of the St. Louis region,” said Michael Staenberg, the group's president. “It’s good for the community, good for Chesterfield, good for the region, and we can create something that’s unique to this area.”
The development is still in its early stages. The rest of demolition is expected to take six months and site grading another six months before streets and sidewalks will be constructed, said Tim Lowe, Staenberg senior vice president of development. Vertical construction will begin in 2026 with people living on the site by the fall of 2028, he said.
“The initial phase of development is programmed to include 4.5 million square feet of density, and that will include about 2,363 residential units, which hopefully will be multigenerational and create a community,” Lowe said.
That's expected to take about 10 years, he added. The start of demolition is a milestone for the project, which the development group first proposed in 2017. The group eventually acquired the mall property in 2020.
Tuesday’s demolition brought mixed emotions for those who came out to see it.
“I’m sure a lot of people in St. Louis and Chesterfield are shedding a tear,” said Dan Tilley, who grew up in Chesterfield and now lives in Lake St. Louis. “This is what raised us. It was home away from home. All the fun memories we had here.”
Tilley had worked in various mall stores including Macy’s, Zarfas Luggage and Gift and American Eagle. He also has fond memories of working in the haunted house as a teenager.
Now though, Tilley said he was ambivalent about the new plan for the site.
“The mall obviously needed to be updated or torn down for something new and great,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, but it’s better than seeing an empty shell. It would have been great if they filmed a zombie movie inside.”
Chesterfield Councilwoman Barbara McGuinness shared Tilley’s sense of loss over the mall.
“We came here all the time, my kids had their first jobs here,” she said. But McGuinness added she’s glad to see new development on the site, instead of the mall languishing like many others are across the country.
“We can’t have a big hole in the middle of town, with a bunch of empty stores,” McGuinness said. “We’re very blessed that somebody will come and buy it, take care of it and build it back up again.”
Many who came to see the beginning of the demolition also expressed enthusiasm about the future development.
“[I’m] excited for the opportunity for additional housing and actually to build a city center here in Chesterfield that’s unlike any other here in the county,” said Guy Tilman, chairman of the Chesterfield Planning Commission.
Councilman Gary Budoor is looking forward to the development becoming a community gathering space.
“I want to see people biking, walking in the park, a gathering place for all of our residents in the region, not necessarily from Chesterfield,” he said.
The billions of private dollars flowing into this development is a major win for the metro area, said Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall. He added it’s something downtown St. Louis, the region’s urban core, should look to replicate.
“We need an abundance mentality, and public-sector leadership plays a key role in creating market confidence that attracts bold investments,” Hall said. “That approach helped bring this type of investment to Chesterfield and could help in attracting bold investment to downtown St. Louis, or anywhere else in the metro.”
There are people in the St. Louis region who aren’t convinced of the project’s merit.
“These far-flung suburban ‘downtowns’ are nothing new and can be found in many metros around the country, and they all feel like a hospital hallway, too sterile,” said Denis Beganovic, who lives downtown. “You can’t replicate century-old buildings in Chesterfield.”
Staenberg insisted the redevelopment in Chesterfield will benefit the broader community.
“This isn’t about Chesterfield. It’s about the St. Louis region,” he said. “There will be nothing like this in the United States, I promise you. A lot of people are skeptical, nervous, but I have the vision of what I think it’s going to look like.”
