St. Charles mayor talks of city's development plans for 2010

If you take St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte's word for it, 2010 will be a year of major changes in St. Charles.

DeWitte said he believes early 2010 may finally be the right time for real change at Charlestowne Mall, turning what seems to be a dying retail outlet into a major shopping attraction and tax generator for the city.

The mall is still locked into a bank-controlled trust with several other unrelated properties. But the unrelated properties are beginning to spin out of the trust bundle, meaning that trust should dissolve in 2010, DeWitte said. Once the trust is gone, the mall becomes for sale, redevelopment or reconfiguration by a new owner.

"The bank tells us that there has been some activity within the trust," DeWitte said. "They tell us we should see some activity, from an ownership standpoint, sometime within the first quarter. Now, I've been hearing that for years. When I see it, I'll believe it."

There may be more reason for DeWitte to believe in 2010 as the city's retail market continues to grow in comparison to other local communities. St. Charles' massive downtown redevelopment project, known as First Street, announced the opening of new restaurants, salons and retail stores on Monday.

"To me, what that really indicates is that we've got a winner of a project," DeWitte said. "If you think about that in this economy, we're very fortunate to be in the position we're in."

DeWitte said he's also looking forward to the redevelopment of the old St. Charles Mall property. The project is known as the Towne Centre. Concerns arose about the size and necessity of the residential aspect of the project and requests from tax credit assistance. A revised version of the project is set to come up for consideration in February.

Major work is expected to begin on a new Red Gate Bridge over the Fox River in 2010. DeWitte said almost all the pieces are in place for that project as the environmental studies are now completed and available for public review. However, some late opposition is expected from residents of Wayne. A community forum for local area residents who have concerns about the bridge is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday night at a clubhouse located at 35W537 Sunnyside Drive in Wayne.