ST. CHARLES, MO-Cullinan Properties confirmed Wednesday that it has pre-leased about 70% of a 100,000-square-foot, retail-office building, the first phase of the $385 million Streets of St. Charles. Construction should be complete in the second quarter 2012 on the project, which has been held up for years because of the economic downturn.
The 26-acre project at Interstate 70 and South Fifth Street had already been on hold for a couple of years when it received a $40 million pledge of Neighborhood Improvement Bonds from the City Council in January 2010, to allow infrastructure work to start. Cullinan said back then that it would start construction and have the project, with about 400,000 square feet of retail and office and 540 residential units, completed this year.
However, Rob Wetherald, VP of development for the Peoria, IL-based developer, tells GlobeSt.com that construction on the first building didn’t start until June 2011. “It took longer than expected,” he says.
Recent leases signed include Five Guys, Wamhoff Financial Planning and Accounting, Brown Smith Wallace and MassageLuxe. “The extra time was comprised of getting these leases signed and getting the city to release the bonds,” Wetherald says. “We’re right on schedule, and getting a lot of attention from tenants.” He says construction will start in 2012 on a 300,000-square-foot, residential-retail building, with 196 apartment units. The apartments will feature amenities such as in-unit washer-dryers, a private clubhouse, a saltwater pool and a cinema. About 50,000 square feet of retail will be on the bottom floor. Other phases of the site will include a 1,000-space parking garage.
Wetherald says pushing ahead through the recent stormy economy will benefit the project in the long run. “We kept this on track when other companies would have folded up their tents,” he says. “Now we’re seeing tenants that are looking for the few retail projects going up, rather than those that are just in concept stages.”
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