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Crestwood Plaza will be at least partially demolished and transformed into an open air lifestyle center, according to one of its new owners, Chicago-based Centrum Properties.

Centrum along with New York investment advisor Angelo, Gordon & Co purchased the 48-acre mall from Australian shopping-mall giant Westfield Group for an undisclosed sum. Westfield bought the mall, built in 1957, for $106.4 million in 1998.

The deal, reported first in the Post-Dispatch by columnist Joe Whittington two months ago, closed on March 26. The mall has been temporarily renamed Crestwood Court.

"It had not been aggressively managed for years," said Sol Barket, Centrum’s managing partner of retail development. "We saw it as a great opportunity to create an open air lifestyle center."

His brother, Keith Barket, is senior managing director at Angelo, Gordon. Both men grew up in the St. Louis area and have been involved in other commercial developments here.

Lifestyle centers, a current trend in shopping center developments, tend to be upscale properties with storefronts that open to the street, outside walkways and outside dining, and a gathering place, such as a square or fountain. They offer an open air design versus an enclosed configuration found in traditional malls.

Although specific plans for the property have not yet been drawn, the redeveloped Crestwood shopping center is expected to have features usually included in lifestyle centers, Barket said.

In addition to what he called a "town center," Barket said the property would have an expanded movie theater, restaurants and would possibly hold outdoor concerts. A town center is typically a square or fountain that acts as a focal point for a center payday advance payday loan.

Barket expects the new center will be about 500,000 to 1 million square feet. The mall has about 1 million square feet today.

"I am truly overjoyed this has happened," Roy Robinson, Crestwood mayor, said about the sale. "This is a great day for our city."

The mall has its temporary new name to show it has new ownership, Barket said. However, that name will be changed after the lifestyle center is created. Groundbreaking will not take place for a year or two as there are still a number of areas that must be addressed, including leases held by existing tenants.

"We will also require subsidies from the city of Crestwood," he said. A meeting between city officials and the new owners is expected to be held in the next few weeks with aggressive planning to follow, Barket said.

The sale came as the mall’s future was hanging in doubt. A number of retailers have pulled out of the center, including anchor retailer Dillard’s Inc., which closed in October. Crestwood has two other anchors, Sears and Macy’s.

The new owners hope Macy’s and Sears will remain as anchors and that some of the previous retailers will agree to return, Barket said.

Centrum has been around for 25 years and is one of the top developers of Walgreens in the Midwest and has prominent developments in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Miami, New Jersey and Kansas City.

Angelo, Gordon was founded in 1988, and the company and its affiliates manage $18 billion in investments.

gappleson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8331

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