Chesterfield to get a "downtown"
By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, May. 10 2007

For 40 years Louis Sachs , chairman of Chesterfield-based Sachs Properties, has
worked on one development: Chesterfield Village. The reason Sachs has spent so
much time and effort on a single — albeit huge — project, is to develop all
1,000 acres as one comprehensive development rather than as several different
pieces.

"I wanted it to have everything," Sachs, 79, said of the Master Planned
Development.

On the 40th anniversary of the original plan for Chesterfield Village, Sachs
will break ground Friday on the next chapter in that development, Downtown
Chesterfield.

Initial plans for Downtown Chesterfield, which will be located on the west side
of Chesterfield Parkway West across from Chesterfield Mall, include two office
buildings totaling a little more than 250,000 square feet and 26,000 square
feet of retail housed on 20 acres.

The new office space will be a welcome addition to what is one of the most
active markets in the metro area, said Chris Fox managing director of
Clayton-based Gateway Commercial.

"West County in general, and Chesterfield (specifically) led all areas in
leasing for the year and that trend has continued into 2007," Fox said.
There is little new speculative construction happening and a lack of large
blocks of available office space, he said.

"Before Chesterfield Village, that area was what a lot of western St. Charles
County is, a rural greenfield," Fox said. "The master plan for the initial
development brought density to the area and went a long way in defining the
Chesterfield market as it is now."

For 2006, rents for office buildings in West County were at $25.02, second only
to Clayton. A total of more than 670,000 square feet of office space was leased
in West County, the highest amount in the metro area, according to Gateway
Commercial research.

Once all of the downtown is built out there will be an additional 50 acres
available for future development. But office space is not all Sachs wants to
add.

His goal is to make it a true downtown, a pedestrian-friendly live and work
area that will also have cultural amenities.

The current 20-acre development project is part of the roughly 250-300 acre
plan for Downtown Chesterfield, which calls for parking, mid- to high-rise
residential buildings, three lakes, lots of green space and walking trails
around everything. He plans to donate 100 acres to the City of Chesterfield to
add to an existing 35-acre city park.

"We would also like the St. Louis Symphony to have a summer home here in
Chesterfield," said Kathy Higgins, president of Sachs Properties.
Cultural resources like the Missouri Botanical Garden, the St. Louis Zoo, as
well as public libraries and parks get funded by tax money from all county
residents, Sachs said, but the bulk of them are located within St. Louis City.

"We would like to bring at least pieces of those to other places, to
Chesterfield," Higgins said.

Over the years the development has gained a public library, the theater company
Stages, and a YMCA, in addition to office and retail tenants, and several
residential communities. An additional 500 acres that Sachs sold to various
companies are now home to Dierbergs headquarters, the St. Louis campus of the
Pfizer Global Research and Development , the 1.3 million square feet
Chesterfield Mall, and three hotels.

Before he began developing Chesterfield Village, Sachs said, he was building
apartment buildings. Each time he started a project, someone would come along
and building something close by or across the street that he found
objectionable. With Chesterfield Village he wanted to build something he could
have complete control over. When completed it will be a $5 billion project.

rtstclair@post-dispatch.com | 314 340 8206