Here’s the latest on Meijer and other major commercial developments in O’Fallon

Final plans are shaping up on the Meijer site on Green Mount Road, several businesses have opened or are under construction, and Prairie Farms has listed its vacant U.S. 50 Highway property for sale.

News on another addition to the old auto mall, a Goodwill store, is part of the comings and goings noticed this summer in O’Fallon.

A Meijer superstore is currently on target to open in 2026, Community Development Director Justin Randall said. It will feature groceries, fresh produce, meat, apparel, pet supplies, toys and electronics.

Meijer is developing a 160,000-square-foot retail and grocery store at the southeast corner of Green Mount Road and Pierce Boulevard, just north of Interstate 64. Plans include a drive-through pharmacy window, online curbside-pickup and outdoor garden center.

This project, and The Shops at Pierce Boulevard proposal, now complete the development of the Green Mount/Interstate 64 interchange, which has been one of O’Fallon’s primary commercial growth zones.

Randall said Meijer is currently working on mine mitigation for the southeast corner of the building pad.

“We continue to hear from the development team that final plans should be submitted this fall with construction to begin in Spring 2025 with an expected opening in Spring 2026,” he said.

After seven public meetings, three letters to residents, two electronic feedback surveys and hundreds of hours worked by traffic engineers and city staff, the O’Fallon council approved the project in July 2023.

Based in Michigan, Meijer, a family business established in 1934, pioneered the supercenter concept in 1962. They presently have over 240 stores in six states and employ about 70,000 people.

A proposed location in Glen Carbon has been delayed because remediation is required on the site before construction work can begin, according to village officials. Meijer’s has operations in Champaign, Urbana and Springfield, Illinois.

The Shops at Pierce Boulevard

The Shops at Pierce Boulevard were approved last July. GBT Realty is developing five lots at 700 Pierce Blvd. that are currently agricultural fields.

The 22,000-square-foot project is expected to cost $1.85 million, which includes public works, property acquisition, construction, site planning, legal costs and so forth.

While tenants have not been named, expectations are for a larger sit-down restaurant, three quick-service restaurants and a medical office building.

The Pierce Boulevard Business District, bounded by the intersection of Pierce Boulevard and Green Mount Road, and the westbound off-ramp of Interstate 64, includes a 6.68-acre parcel for The Shops at Pierce, but not the adjacent site for Meijer grocery.

In July 2023, the council unanimously approved establishing the business district, and its plan, a redevelopment agreement and authorization to impose taxes within the business district boundaries.

City officials say the business district will attract stable business and commercial growth so that is the purpose behind the financial incentives that will allow the developer to collect up to an additional 1% sales tax on retail goods, which is above what is currently collected in the city and is not a sales tax rebate.

Public improvements expected to total $2 million must be made to accommodate the project and address inadequacies of the adjoining street network and safe access to Pierce Boulevard.

The public improvements will include turning lanes into and out of the proposed development, a new internal public street system, improvements to Pierce and Green Mount intersection, and extension of utilities within.

“It is anticipated that the new commercial will attract additional retail sales. It will also provide additional commercial services to the residents of O’Fallon and attract business patronage from residents in surrounding communities,” City Planner Ryan Auer wrote in a staff report.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts is currently under construction at 1755 Frank Scott Parkway. The national coffee chain is building a 1,271-square-foot drive-thru and pick up window coffee shop.

Randall said work began in June, but no word yet on the expected completion date.

This Dunkin’ (company is dropping the “Donuts” from the title), will be a two-lane drive-thru and will not have indoor dining. The nearest metro-east location is currently in Fairview Heights.

Starbucks

The third O’Fallon location for the coffee chain is under construction at East Highway 50 and South Lincoln Avenue, in the 4.91 acre Southview Plaza development area.

This is the first phase of the development. The new Starbucks broke ground in March. Currently, the JRJ Family Ltd Partnership’s plans for a Starbucks on 1.30 acres. The other part of the 4.9 acres, the southern lot, will be 3.64 acres, and plans for development are undecided.

The Starbucks drive-through café will be 2,016 square feet and have an outdoor patio.

It is the third location in O’Fallon – the other two are located at 1126 Central Park Drive and 1411 W. Highway 50. There is also a Starbucks in the Target store located at the Green Mount Crossing in Shiloh.

Christian Brothers Automotive

Christian Brothers Automotive Shiloh opened this summer at 1310 Thouvenot Lane.

With three locations on the Missouri side – Valley Park, Arnold, O’Fallon – this 5,133-square-foot building is the first metro-east shop from the established automotive-service franchise.

Owners are Corwin and Stacey Pauly, and they service all makes and models.

Prairie Farms Dairy

A former ice cream manufacturing plant/warehouse and office operated by Prairie Farms Dairy at 400 West U.S. Highway 50 and South Oak is now listed for sale with Re/Max Preferred Commercial.

Randall said the plant closed in early December 2023. It was built in 1947. It officially went on the market July 28.

Prairie Farms is headquartered in Edwardsville, after moving there from Carlinville, Illinois. The company did not respond to repeated attempts for information.

The price is $2.89 million, or $78 per square foot. The sale includes 2.75 acres with 34,431 square feet of manufacturing/warehouse space and 2,509 square feet for office. It has five dock doors and two drive-in doors, and 50 paved parking spaces.

For more than 70 years, Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. has been providing a range of retail and food-service dairy products, including juices, drinks, milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, dips, yogurt, butter, ice cream and frozen novelty treats. They are a farmer-owned cooperative.

After Dean Foods went bankrupt in 2019, Prairie Farms purchased five parcels at State and Smiley streets that were used for Dean’s PET Dairy brand.

Prairie Farms employs more than 450 people in the metro east. That O’Fallon site produced fluid milk and cultured dairy products. Its annual revenue exceeds $3 billion.