Business View Magazine | April 2020

249 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2020 HAZELWOOD , MI SSOUR I Transportation, is undertaking a redevelopment project of its own that should integrate smoothly with the Village Square’s urban renewal program.“They’re reconstructing Interstate 270, which affects the intersection of 270 and Lindbergh right here in Hazelwood, by Village Square,” Ahlvin confirms. “They’ll be adding some lanes to 270. They’re also going to replace Lindbergh’s existing bi-directional overpass with two separate, one-directional overpasses.” “They’re redeveloping the entire intersection,” Zimmerman says. “Not just reconstructing highway bridges but adding off-ramps that feed directly into and out of Village Square, onto Lindbergh, onto 270. We’ll even see new accesses on the frontage roads, which are the direct exits into the mixed-use center. We anticipate that when that gets completed in 2023, you’ll see a lot more buzz at Village Square.” Although the City of Hazelwood had always hoped to face the future together with its long- standing partnership with Ford, the company announced the closing of its St. Louis assembly plant back in 2008, resulting in the subsequent layoff of 1,445 employees. “As you would expect, that really put a dent in our budget,” Ahlvin admits. Enter Panattoni Development—the California-based developer that cleared the former Ford Motor Co. site and rebranded the 155-acre infill property as the Aviator Business Park. “They’ll have about 10 buildings by the time they’re done,” says Ahlvin. “Some fairly major tenants in that location.” The city is also working in collaboration with NorthPoint Development, a real estate developer based out of Riverside, MO. “They’ve got two business parks within the city—Hazelwood Logistics Center and Hazelwood TradePort,” says Ahlvin. “Those represent several million square feet of industrial warehousing, logistics-type buildings.” “The Logistics Center had the first Amazon facility in Missouri,” adds Zimmerman. “We’re a little proud of that.” Other major corporations