Editorial: Contrasting developments show challenges, opportunities for St. Charles economic gateway

Gateways are important. Just ask the suburban towns that have them, covet them and are usually trying to improve them as a means to entice businesses and visitors.

St. Charles has been wanting to improve its eastern entrance along Main Street/Route 64 for a decade. The first try had a rough tenure. The second time could be the charm.

The city first hung its hat on Charlestowne Mall. It was just west and kitty-corner from the renowned Pheasant Run Resort property. A hearty one-two punch.

Last we left it a few years ago, Charlestowne was renamed The Quad. It was the latest incarnation from new owners who have done little to the property so far.

Charlestowne opened to great promise in 1991 with a gleaming, huge carousel and more than 100 stores. It was so successful it led to the unfortunate closing of the west side St. Charles Mall in 1995.

A little more than 10 years ago, though, Charlestowne found itself in the midst of a slow decline, a condition growing common among many once-thriving shopping malls. For Charlestowne, the mall was facing competition from a home runner hitter's lineup of shopping attractions that included Geneva Commons and the Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora.

The city of St. Charles, not usually one to sit on its hands, welcomed a new owner to Charlestowne - a California-based investment group - in the middle of 2010. But unfulfilled promises and various starts and stops ensued for three years. The owners eventually offered a written statement about yet another possible development, but nothing happened until 2014 when they asked for $20 million in tax incentives to build housing primarily on the mall's northern border.

Aldermen initially seemed willing. A project manager for the owners told them the group was " ... working on solidifying our anchor commitments ..." but did not identify any businesses showing interest other than to say, "I think at this point I can say it's going just fine."

That could not be said today. With the exception of a department store and a movie theater, the mall is a ghost town. It wasn't too many years ago a reporter visited Charlestowne as part of our Black Friday reporting. There sat Santa Claus with zero people lined up to see him.

A Cooper's Hawk restaurant opened in 2017 and a Starbucks popped up on the mall property's outlots. They were supposed to be the beginning of a re-imagined mall with more outlots like that to draw the bustling traffic that still exists on Main Street. That plan, however, went no further than what can be seen there today.

Enter the Pheasant Run property - 46 acres on the southeast corner of Main Street and Kautz Road near the DuPage Airport. The hotel and convention center left a gaping hole in that corridor when it closed a year ago, but already McGrath Honda wants to open an auto dealership. Recent talks seem promising. That would be a huge win in terms of tax dollars for the city, and it suggests new promise for St. Charles' economic eastern gateway.

The mall fell into disuse and was bought by a company that has not been able to manage much success over several years. Pheasant Run fell into disuse but appears already to have a new steward and an economic engine revving up.

Here's hoping the city can help get that engine firing on all cylinders - and encourage its neighbor to do the same.