With exceptional visibility from Interstate 70, a few developers before had tried their hand at making this plot of land work in St. Peters.
But it wasn’t until GBT Realty Corp. acquired the site in 2016 before any cranes were seen in the air. Fast forward two years and $54 million later, the 270,000-square-foot Shoppes at Mid Rivers is almost entirely leased as Outback Steakhouse and Blaze Pizza are set to open this July as some of the development’s first dining tenants.
Anchor tenants include Academy Sports + Outdoors (represented by L3 Corp. broker Scott Bitney) and Burlington.
Outback is building on a roughly 1-acre outparcel, and Blaze will occupy 2,600 square feet, GBT Realty said. Chesterfield-based Knoebel Construction is the general contractor. Yet to be filled is about 20,000 square feet that Jeff Pape, managing director of GBT Realty’s shopping center division, said will likely feature a mix of smaller retailers and fast-casual restaurant brands.
Grant Mechlin, Sansone Group’s managing director of retail services, said Shoppes at Mid Rivers is the first ground-up power center, or an outdoor shopping center with several large and small retailers, in the region in years.
“The creation of that power center the (Mid Rivers Mall) and Costco probably makes it the largest retail trade area in St. Charles County,” Mechlin said.
Based in Tennessee, GBT has been involved with the development, construction, leasing and management of 35 million square feet of real estate worth more than $6 billion across 27 states since it’s launch in 1987 by George Tomlin. In addition to working with Academy Sports, GBT has relationships with Target, TJX Cos. and Ross Dress for Less, which has a spot in the St. Peters center and was repped by L3 Principal Ian Silberman.
The Shoppes is GBT’s first development in St. Louis. It previously partnered with Florida-based LeCesse Development Corp. to redevelop the former Schnucks grocery store site at the corner of Clayton and Hanley roads in Clayton. Both parties walked away after they couldn’t come to terms on the architecture with the city of Clayton. (“It’s a great piece of real estate, but the city is making it very difficult to get that site developed,” Pape said.) A $95 million senior living facility from Ryan Cos. is now planned for that intersection.
Despite a slow start to sales, Pape said, GBT has no doubt Shoppes at Mid Rivers will be successful. With the average shopping center at 100,000-120,000 square feet, GBT’s ability to build 270,000 square feet is the “biggest sign that there was great opportunity and strength in the market,” he said.
“A lot of people had tried to develop this site. (GBT was) asuccessful,” L3 Corp.’s Bitney said. “They’re an aggressive developer and are a perfect storm of the right place, right time and wherewithal of putting it all together.”