The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets begins development

SOURCE: MarketWatch

ST. LOUIS, Oct 06, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- After more than two years of planning, zoning and pre-development, a leading outlet mall development team today announced plans to begin development of The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets in Chesterfield. The outlet mall will feature 555,000 sq. ft. of retail space on 55 acres located four miles west of Chesterfield Commons on the south side of I-64 /US Highway 40 just east of the Daniel Boone Bridge. The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets will be the anchor development of Chesterfield Blue Valley, a mixed-use development to include office space, hotel, restaurant and entertainment venues on 75+ additional contiguous acres.

The $85 million outlet development is a collaboration of professionals with more than 30 years of outlet mall and retail development experience including:

-- Stephen Coslik of Woodmont Outlets, an affiliate of The Woodmont Company of Fort Worth, Texas;

-- Lisa Quier Wagner of EWB Development of Vermont;

-- Ross Adams of Adams & Associates Architecture of Mooresville, N.C.;

-- Dean Wolfe and Marian Nunn of Chesterfield Blue Valley of St. Louis.

The 250 retail tenants of The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets will be similar to those of other high-end outlet mall developments leased and managed by the development team including Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic Factory Store, Calvin Klein, Coach Factory Store and Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store. Based on comparable developments, The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets expects to attract more than 10 million visitors annually from a three-hour radius, creating a demand for other services in the area.

The project will generate more than 2,500 local jobs, including 500 construction jobs, 75 management jobs, and 2,000 retail positions. Upon completion, the outlet mall is expected to generate $265 million in annual sales and generate more than $22.3 million in sales tax revenue.

Developers of this development cite the following strengths of the plan:

-- Woodmont Outlets, EWB Development and Adams & Associates Architecture have developed, designed, leased and/or managed more than 100 leading outlet malls worldwide;

-- The proposed site is ideal: -- The site is strategically located near 2.8 million people with an average household income of $95,000;

-- The site is already zoned for retail development, consistent with the Chesterfield Valley Comprehensive Plan and projected to open Fall 2013;

-- The site offers easy, multiple points of access from/to I-64/US Highway 40, Olive Street Road and Chesterfield Airport Road;

-- The outlet mall development can handle the traffic demand and will include 2,800 parking spaces;

-- There are an additional contiguous 75+ acres available for contemporaneous mixed-use development within Chesterfield Blue Valley.

"As outlet malls move closer to metropolitan centers in Dallas, Phoenix, Orlando, Chicago and Atlanta, we were attracted to Chesterfield Valley as one of the top sites in the country for this type of retail development," said Stephen Coslik of Woodmont Outlets. "After reviewing all land available in the region for a project of this scope, we know we have the ideal site, situated a respectful distance from traditional retail malls in the area, and we have assembled a one-of-a-kind team of experts in real estate, retail and outlet malls who will realize a compelling vision for Chesterfield Valley and the outlet mall shoppers who will be attracted to this location from more than 150 miles around the site."

To meet the goal of opening for business in 2013, the team expects to:

-- Submit plans in December 2011;

-- Break ground in Summer 2012;

-- Open to the public in Fall 2013.

The Spirit of St. Louis Outlets ( www.spiritofstlouisoutlets.com ) project is led by Woodmont Outlets, a division of The Woodmont Company, a Fort Worth, Texas-based commercial real estate investment and brokerage firm in business for 31 years specializing in site selection, development, brokerage, investment and property management. EWB Development LLC, which has marketed and leased more than 50 outlet mall developments in North America and Europe, is handling national marketing and leasing. Adams & Associates Architecture specializes in designing outlet malls and is responsible for all planning, design and construction management. Dean Wolfe, former May Department Stores executive vice president of real estate, and Marian Nunn, former chief operating officer of THF Realty, are developing the 131-acre mixed-use project known as Chesterfield Blue Valley on which the outlet mall will be built.