Offices, retail to be built at former jail site
By Mary Shapiro

The Spirit of St. Louis Corporate Center office-retail project will be built on the site of the former St. Louis County Adult Correctional Institute site in Chesterfield valley.

The Chesterfield City Council March 19 gave final approval to rezoning to allow for the office-retail development by Duke Realty Corp. and Gundaker Commercial Group on 32 acres at 18199 and 18299 Chesterfield Airport Road.

The site is east of Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard.

Only Councilman Barry Flachsbart was opposed.

Early last year, the St. Louis County Economic Council, through the Port Authority (which owns the site), solicited proposals for development of the site, which has been mostly vacant since the construction of the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton.

City officials said site plan review to determine exact uses for the site should start this week.

Plans are for no more than two of the following uses within the 600 feet of the property closest to Chesterfield Airport Road - gasoline station, vehicle repair facility, vehicle service center or vehicle washing facility.

Council members Flachsbart, Barry Streeter and Dan Hurt had asked that fast-food restaurants not be allowed at the site, but the other five council members opposed the request, as did Mayor John Nations, who said not having fast food would put more traffic on Chesterfield Airport Road as workers must leave the site for meals.

Streeter has said he thinks the council's intent was to keep fast-food restaurants east of Long Road and feared a precedent could be set in the area to start fast-food restaurants west of Long.

Flachsbart had said cafeterias and sit-down restaurants would have been allowed at the site anyway, and that fast food was not in keeping with the character of the area.

"But I feel fast food is an important part of this type of project," Councilman Mike Casey countered.

Councilwoman Connie Fults said there already are some fast-food restaurants west of Long Road.

Mike Hejna of Gundaker said "any limitation on restaurants would be absolutely abhorrent from our standpoint and negate our ability to participate in this transaction, which would cause us to withdraw and create a (negative) domino effect on the jail site."

He said restaurants "are palatable, typical uses in that kind of marketplace."

Nations said he was pleased the project was approved, "because we've worked a very long time to redevelop the jail site."

Dennis G. Coleman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Council, told Nations in a March 19 letter that "Duke anticipated that its development would require access to Interstate 64 at Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard and agreed to fund a portion of the interchange improvement.

"Accordingly, Duke's development offers an outstanding opportunity to secure private support for an interchange that will serve businesses in the western end of Chesterfield valley as well as Spirit (of St. Louis) Airport," he wrote. "(It) represents an outstanding opportunity to turn an idle and unproductive property into an economic and community asset."

You can contact Mary Shapiro at mshapiro@yourjournal.com.