Under new owner, Belleville shopping center is making a strong comeback
A Belleville strip mall is making a strong comeback under its new owner.
Timber Development Corp. bought the main strip mall at Belleville Crossing shopping center in November under the name Timber Belleville Properties. It has since announced the addition of four new tenants.
The previous owner, Jonathan Larmore, is serving a five-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for tender-offer and securities fraud and awaiting trial in another federal court on charges related to his retail properties, including those in Belleville.
According to prosecutors and Belleville Crossing investors, Larmore used $35 million of investment capital to support his own extravagant lifestyle, including a six-figure birthday party for his dog, instead of spending it on maintenance and management.
Timber Development Corp., which has shopping centers all over the country, is based in Florida. It bought Belleville Crossing’s main strip mall from a court-appointed receiver for $6.5 million, according to St. Clair County records.
The purchase didn’t include The Home Depot and Target buildings — which are owned by their respective companies — or smaller strip malls and free-standing businesses on outlots.
Timber wasted little time filling vacancies in the main strip mall. Since Bath & Body Works announced it will open this fall, more developments have come to light in and around the once-troubled shopping center.
Ross Dress For Less
The city of Belleville announced over the weekend that a Ross store will “soon join the Belleville community” and occupy the former OfficeMax space at 5875 Belleville Crossing St.
Scott Tyler, director of health, housing and building for the city, confirmed that the store will be a Ross Dress For Less. Ross Stores Inc. owns two retail chains: Ross Dress For Less and dd’s Discounts.
A timeframe was not provided for the store’s development, which is currently in the permit application process.
Other area stores are located in Fairview Heights (6005 N. Illinois St.) and Shiloh (3800 Green Mount Crossing Drive).
Images Beauty Supply
Three storefronts between Target and The Home Depot will soon be occupied by a beauty supply store moving from its current O’Fallon location.
Images Beauty Supply (2005 W. Highway 50) shared a video on its Facebook page teasing a look at the new store, which will be three times larger than its current store.
One of the spaces previously housed Jan’s Hallmark, which closed in May 2024 due to issues with the previous management.
Tyler said he thought that with the strip mall’s new ownership, Jan’s Hallmark might return to Belleville Crossing, but it didn’t work out that way.
Instead, the three vacant storefronts at 5551, 5541 and 5531 Belleville Crossing St. are being combined to create an approximately 13,500-square-foot retail space that will house Images Beauty Supply.
Plaza Tire Service
Many folks asked about the new construction taking place on Belleville Crossing Street across from Walgreens.
In June, The Rhodes Group LLC was granted approval to build a 6,522-square-foot Plaza Tire Service facility at 5940 Belleville Crossing St.
The Rhodes Group has other Plaza Tire locations in the metro-east, including a facility at 218 Lincoln Highway in Fairview Heights at the former site of Long John Silver’s. Construction is nearly complete at this location.
Another Plaza Tire Service facility is at the Orchard Town Center development in Glen Carbon. The facility, located at 6611 Governors Parkway, is now open.
Smoke World Vape
Smoke World Vape, which sells cigars, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smoking devices and supplies and more, will open between Great Clips and the new Bath & Body Works.
The shop has a new entrance installed in what used to be part of Dressbarn, which closed in 2019 after the company announced it would close all of its 650 stores.
Multiple other smoke and vape shops are located throughout the area, including Vapex Smoke Shop (Swansea), Vapor World & Tobacco (Green Mount Commons, Belleville), Vape Plus (Fairview Heights) and many others.
These shops, including Smoke World Vape, are not dispensaries and do not sell cannabis.
Verizon
A Verizon store will soon open at 5630 Belleville Crossing St., where a Sally Beauty Supply was once located.
Other area Verizon stores include:
- 1915 Carlyle Ave., Belleville
- 3790 Green Mount Crossing Drive, Shiloh
- 5902 N. Illinois St., Fairview Heights
- 429 Marketplace Drive, Freeburg
Target
The remodeling project at Target (5601 Belleville Crossing St.) that began in May is nearly complete, according to an unidentified Target employee. The Starbucks inside the big-box retailer reopened on Saturday. The café’s hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m daily.
100% leased
Four of the new businesses – Bath & Body Works, Smoke World Vape, Ross Dress For Less and Images Beauty Supply – are located in Belleville Crossing’s main strip mall owned by Timber Belleville Properties.
Existing businesses in that mall include Dollar Tree, PetSmart, T-Mobile, Great Clips, Hibbett Sports, Maurices and Famous Footwear. Timber does not own The Home Depot or Target buildings.
Timber Development Corp. owns and manages more than 25 properties in 13 states with an average of 92% leased space, according to the company’s website.
Eric Schauster, Belleville’s assistant director of economic development, planning and zoning, said that in recent communications with Timber, he learned that its part of the shopping center is now 100% leased.
“It’s great to see some movement there and an owner that cares about the property,” said Schauster.
Legal problems
Larmore’s umbrella company, Arciterra Companies, owned Belleville Crossing’s main strip mall and two smaller strip malls, including one with the former Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, beginning in 2011.
By early 2023, several tenants had moved out amid complaints of neglect and mismanagement. Problems ranged from tall weeds to potholes, leaky ceilings to broken lights.
In March, a federal judge in New York sentenced Larmore, 51, a Florida resident, to five years in prison after a jury found him guilty of tender-offer and securities fraud related to a scheme involving WeWork stock. He appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and asked to remain free on bond while the case moved forward.
On June 16, a three-judge panel denied Larmore’s request, ordering him to report two days later to Federal Correctional Institution, Lewisburg, a medium-security prison with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp.
Larson is awaiting trial in another fraud case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The complaint charges him and his affiliates with violating antifraud provisions of federal securities laws.