CRESTWOOD PLAZA
Watson Road / US 66 and Sappington Road
City of Crestwood, Missouri
Among the earliest regional-class shopping centers in Greater St. Louis, CRESTWOOD PLAZA was built on a 34-acre plot. The property was located 12 miles southwest of the center city, in the bedroom community of Crestwood. Open-air in configuration, CRESTWOOD PLAZA was developed by Milton, Lewis and Hyme Zorensky, under the auspices of Hycel Properties. It was designed by Richard Hafner and the Millstone Construction Company.
The complex originally encompassed approximately 550,000 leasable square feet. There was a full basement, with a lower level
Arcade Shops concourse. CRESTWOOD PLAZA was anchored by a 2-level (156,000 square foot) Sears. This store was dedicated, along with National Shirt Shops, Baker's Shoes, The Children's Shop and a (23,000 square foot) Kroger supermarket, on March 21, 1957.
Walgreen Drug, Lerner Shops, Thom McAn Shoes and a 2-level (36,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth opened on May 19, 1957. A third group of tenants began business in August 1957. The center's second anchor, a 3-level (165,000 square foot), St. Louis-based Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney (a.k.a. Vandervoort's) welcomed its first shoppers on August 14, 1958.
There was no on-site cinema. However, the
66 Park-In Theater had opened in 1948. It was located directly across from the shopping center and was in business until 1994. A sit-down venue, the
Crestwood Theatre, operated between 1964 and 1986. It was located one half mile west of CRESTWOOD PLAZA, on Watson Road.
Commercial competitors of CRESTWOOD PLAZA included WESTROADS CENTER (1955) {5.2 miles northeast, in St. Louis County}, SOUTH COUNTY CENTER (1963) {4.3 miles southeast, in St. Louis County} and WEST COUNTY CENTER (1969) {4.5 miles northwest, also in St. Louis County}.
Sears expanded its store with a third floor and enlarged Auto Center. The building now encompassed 221,400 square feet. It was re-dedicated on November 11, 1963. 3 years later, an enclosed wing was added to the east end of CRESTWOOD PLAZA. Designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior, it was built over a 3-level parking garage and included a 4-level (252,500 square foot), St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller. This store opened its doors on January 23, 1967.
Anchor rebrandings commenced on September 15, 1969, when St. Louis-based Famous-Barr rebranded the Vandervoort's store. The Stix nameplate remained in place until the spring of 1985, when stores were rebranded by Dillard's.
Meanwhile, a second expansion of CRESTWOOD PLAZA had got underway in October 1983. The original strip center was rebuilt as a fully-enclosed mall, with store blocks added to its south side. The
Cornucopia & The Market were installed in the basement. An official dedication was held on October 3, 1984. The American Multi-Cinema
Crestwood Plaza 5 megaplex (adjacent to
Cornucopia) showed its first features on March 21, 1986.
During a renovation completed in May 1992, a second cinema was installed on the northeast corner of the mall's main level, in back of Dillard's. The two cinemas operated together for approximately one year. Then, the basement venue was shuttered and reconfigured as a video arcade. The cinema behind Dillard's was expanded into a 10-screen venue, which was known as the AMC
Crestwood Plaza 10.
CRESTWOOD PLAZA now spanned around 1,017,000 leasable square feet and housed over 140 stores and services under its roof. Australia-based Westfield acquired the mall in January 1998. In November of the same year, they renamed it WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN CRESTWOOD. This was shortened to WESTFIELD CRESTWOOD in June 2005.
By the early 21st century, the mall was in a downward spiral. ST. LOUIS GALLERIA (1986) {5.8 miles northeast, in St. Louis County} had proven to be too close for comfort. GRAVOIS BLUFFS (2000) {4.7 miles southwest, in Fenton} also contributed to the decline of the CRESTWOOD mall.
Famous-Barr considered closing their CRESTWOOD location in September 2005. However, the store remained open up to -and after- its "Macy-ation," which transpired in September 2006. Dillard's
did pull the plug on their store in October 2007, leaving approximately sixty retailers in business.
The struggling shopping center was sold to a joint venture of Chicago-based Centrum Properties and New York City-based Angelo, Gordon & Company in March 2008. The official name was changed to CRESTWOOD COURT. The new owners instituted the Art Space project, which was a novel method of filling vacancies. Sixty spaces were leased, for a mere 50 to 100 dollars per month, to art gallery, dance studio and theater tenants.
Meanwhile, an ambitious redevelopment was announced, with most of the existing structure to be razed and replaced by an open-air, lifestyle venue. Progress was delayed by the shuttering of the mall's Macy's, which took place on April 1, 2009. By late 2011, the long-delayed redevelopment was gaining momentum once again.
The mall was shuttered on March 1, 2012, with Sears -the final operational anchor- going dark in April. The CRESTWOOD COURT renovation project fell through when the owner defaulted on their loan. Another stumbling block presented itself when Crestwood city fathers rejected a 34 million dollar tax abatement-based overhaul.
An "abandoned property" was to be sold in an online auction, which was to commence May 15, 2013. This event was delayed until April 2014. Chicago's Urban Street Group, Limited Liability Company purchased the mall and indicated that the site would be redeveloped in a residential and retail capacity.
Demolition commenced in May 2016, with the entirety of the shopping hub being razed. A mixed-use complex, tentatively known as THE CREST, was among two redevelopment concepts drawn up. This 99 million dollar project, which was to include an upscale bowling alley, megaplex cinema, big-box store, high-end restaurants and residential units, was scheduled for a late 2018 grand opening.
Unfortunately, THE CREST proposal was rejected. Walpert Properties, of Creve Couer, Missouri, was hired in late 2018. Their redevelopment plan for a CRESTWOOD CITY CENTER also included residential, office and entertainment components, but would have only smaller retail stores in its tenant mix. It was hoped that construction might be underway by the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, the developer pulled out of the project in June 2020, due to Covid-19-related shutdowns.
A joint venture of Dierbergs Markets and McBride Homes was formed to redevelop the former mall site. A final plan was approved by the city's Planning, Zoning & Architectural Review Commission in March 2022. A new CRESTWOOD CROSSING complex would be anchored by a 1-level (72,500 square foot) Dierbergs Market and include 32,000 square feet of office and retail space. An additional 10,500 square feet of freestanding restaurants would also be built.
Dierbergs Market opened, as the first operational CRESTWOOD CROSSING tenant, on March 28, 2023. A Villages at Crestwood Crossing subdivision will eventually encompass seventy-nine single-family residential Units. The first twenty-four were ready for occupancy by the summer of 2023.
Sources:
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
http://www.westfield.com
http://westfieldamerica.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://crestwoodcourt.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.joneslanglasalle.com
http://www.city-data.com
www.cinematreasures.org
www.bizjournals.com
https://www.scoutrg.com / Scout Realty Group
https://callnewspapers.com
https://www.cityofcrestwood.org
