{site rendering of Pace Properties' Midtown Station retail development}
The first big retail piece of the Midtown puzzle is here. Pace Properties is marketing Midtown Station, a retail development on the long vacant Federal Mogul site along Forest Park Avenue between Vandeventer and Spring streets in St. Louis City. Adjacent to the Cortex development, the Federal Mogul site has been long rumored to be set for large-scale retail development. In 2007, a slideshow depicting a Target store and other retailers was shown to select Saint Louis University students as a focus group. The university is a block from the development site.
Development plans show retail storefront facing both Vandeventer and Forest Park Avenues, while several residential buildings, a vacant office building and a city firehouse at the southeast corner of Vandeventer and Forest Park will remain, for now. The next significant announcement is expected to be Cortex retail development on the southwest corner of the same intersection. As reported here at nextSTL, we expect IKEA to be the anchor tenant in that development. Tenants for Midtown Station have not been announced. Materials from Pace show locations for five retailers ranging from 11,000 to 80,000 square feet. Newer urban Target locations are near 80,000 square feet, average size of a TJ Maxx is ~30,000 square feet and the average Trader Joe's grocery is 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. (tour the Midtown neighborhood of St. Louis)
{the Federal Mogul site today – looking southwest from Forest Park Avenue and Spring}
{Midtown Station site plan}
{Midtown Station is one component of a significant new retail investment in Midtown St. Louis}
*update 7/31/13
Per the Post-Dispatch, Pace and Great Rivers Greenway are exploring the feasibility of repurposing the trestle spanning Vandeventer Avenue between the Midtown Station site and Cortex development and planned MetroLink Station for pedestrian and bicycle access:
{the trestle as it is today}
From the project literature:
Midtown Station is a 166,000 square foot lifestyle center located in the City of St. Louis between St. Louis University and its 14,000 students, the BJC Hospital Complex and its 26,500 employees, and the Central West End, home to the highest incomes in the City. Midtown Station is also located in close proximity to Forest Park, which boasts 12 million visitors annually, Washington University and its 14,100 students and 13,700 employees, and Wells Fargo and its 5,300 employees.
Midtown Station is located between I-64 on the south (91,000 cars per day), Forest Park Boulevard on the north (31,000 cars per day), Vandeventer Avenue on the west and Spring Avenue on the east. Visibility of the center from both I-64 and Forest Park Parkway will be exceptional. Due to its accessibility to and from I-64 and Forest Park Boulevard, Midtown Station will not only be an excellent local shopping destination but also a great regional shopping destination. Upon completion of Midtown Station, two Metrolink (urban rail system) stations will be located within ½ mile of Midtown Station, one existing and one to be constructed within Cortex, which will enhance accessibility to the center.
Pace Properties – Midtown Station retail development – St. Louis, MO by nextSTL.com
