At a public hearing on January 3, the St. Louis County Council heard about current deteriorating conditions at the old Jamestown Mall site, which is located in an unincorporated area of North St. Louis County near Florissant. Council members were trying to determine if the site, which had multiple owners, will qualify as a blighted area.
Sheila Sweeney, CEO of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, provided an historic timeline about the mall until its permanent closure in 2013. She also talked about success the partnership had with revitalizing other shopping developments, such as Crestwood Mall, located in South St. Louis County.
Architecture and planning firm Peckham Guyton Albers and Viets, Inc. was hired to conduct field investigations of the site, which includes 1.2 million square feet of space, in October 2016, as well as February and March of 2014.
John Brancaglione, vice president of PGAV Planners, told councilmembers that the 148-acre Jamestown Mall site qualified as both “blighted” and “unsanitary,” as defined by state law. He said there are unsafe conditions inside and outside on the site.
“When you combine these things together, in our opinion, it’s clearly an economic liability, clearly a social liability, and some of these things are really a menace to public health and safety,” Brancaglione said.
Factors that make Jamestown Mall qualify as blighted, according to PGAV Planners, include defective or inadequate street layout, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting and the existence of conditions that endanger life or property by fire and other causes.
“There’s a situation in the theatre complex where the second floor exits on the balcony area and the doors open onto a service corridor, which means if you walk out those doors, you’d be at a 15-foot drop onto the concrete floor,” Brancaglione said. “How that ever happened, I don’t know, but there are many of those things.”
Birds have made their way into the site, which has broken skylights, leaking roof areas, ceiling damage, growing mold, code violations, lack of outdoor lighting, outside graffiti and other nuisances.
“The market area, based on some analyses we’ve done, not specifically for this project but for other [areas] in North County, suggest that the amount of retail space represented on this property can’t be supported,” Brancaglione said. “It’s not to say there is not potential for some retail use of this property, just not 1.2 million square feet of it.”
Under consideration is the Jamestown Mall Redevelopment Plan and Project and Qualifications Analysis. That redevelopment plan, created a few years ago, called for mixed-use development with a combination of housing and retail.
Jamestown Mall is located in the 4th Council District, which is represented by newcomer Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray, a former state representative. She requested time to review the redevelopment proposal before further action by the council.
During public comments, educator Carletta Washington asked the council not to negatively impact the local school district (Hazelwood) and to consider Jamestown Mall without the disparaging thoughts and reputation that people who do not live in adjacent communities have about it and North St. Louis County.
“I would ask you to consider from the perspective of those of us who live there,” Washington said. “We would like to see that our feelings are included and we are getting the same treatment as if we were a Clayton or a Ladue or anywhere else where people feel happy and safe.”
“We haven’t yet determined the best redevelopment plan – that will be through the Economic Partnership and a lot of folks in the Planning Department,” said Council Chair Sam Page, who represents the 2nd Council District.
“We’re still trying to determine if this needs the blight designation, and if it does, and the property is consolidated, then we offer it for different proposals. And some of those proposals would include, I’m sure, multi-use development. That’s what’s been considered in the past, but there isn’t a final plan right now. This is just discussion. But other properties of similar structure have been redeveloped as multi-use format.”
Washington said she wants the council to consider technology tenants.
“Did you consider bringing in technology? But to just jump to apartments and housing – that’s not always the answer,” Washington said. “There are things that are happening in the central corridor of the city and the Central West End, and it makes sense that it could apply to where we are in North County.”
After recently visiting Cortex in St. Louis, Walton Gray agreed.
“Technology is in the forefront of my mind as well,” Walton Gray said.
Although North County residents are anxious to have the Jamestown Mall site return to a vibrant, productive area for its communities, this is still early in the process.
“I want people to realize it’s going to take a while,” Walton Gray said. “To be clear, this is not over yet – this is the beginning part.”
