Long-Planned POWERplex Downsized
Date Posted: November 22, 2022
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dan Buck envisioned baseball fields and volleyball courts where weeds and dilapidated concrete stand now. A giant sports complex, with entertainment, restaurants and retail, would have drawn thousands of youth athletes and their families to the site of the former Mills Mall, he argued.
Buck still envisions a sports complex. But it’ll be a lot smaller.
On Monday, Cleveland-based real estate developer Industrial Commercial Properties confirmed it has purchased the defunct Hazelwood mall and plans to turn it into an industrial park. Buck said the two are working to keep about 40% of it for his sports concept.
“We are working hard with ICP and the city of Hazelwood to finalize what will become one of the most dynamic, mixed use developments in our region,” Buck said in a text. “We are hopeful to get through the final development planning and process approvals to make this campus a reality for St. Louis County and our region.”
The deal does not include Cabela’s retail store nor the St. Louis Ice Zone.
The company declined to disclose a purchase price.
The mall, off Highway 370 just north of Interstate 270, first opened in 2003. It cost an estimated $250 million to build and promised 200 tenants, including a movie theater, a sporting goods store and high-end shops such as Saks Fifth Avenue.
But by 2016, foot traffic had declined, stores shuttered and the mall was struggling.
It has since been an albatross for the city of Hazelwood. Absentee owners neglected the property, tenants fled and some $6.5 million of debt associated with the mall’s taxing district piled up.
Buck wanted to turn the mall into a $54 million mega-complex, which he named “POWERplex,” to include six sports venues, a hotel, several restaurants, go-kart tracks, putt-putt golf, ropes course and retail shopping.