CHESTERFIELD, Mo–A multi-billion dollar plan to redevelop the Chesterfield Mall and nearby properties into a massive mixed-use project dubbed “Downtown Chesterfield” took a major step forward Monday afternoon, when the city’s Regional Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission endorsed a plan for more than $300 million in Tax Increment Financing over the objections of the Parkway and Rockwood school districts.

The plan now goes to the Chesterfield City Council where it is expected to be taken up next month. When taken together with the nearby Wildhorse Village already under construction, the final project could mean as much as $3 billion in investment between the two of them. The St. Louis Business Journal has previously reported that without the TIF, which would cover infrastructure costs, the Mall redevelopment would not have moved forward. 

The Chesterfield panel’s 9-3 vote came after a previous public hearing had been extended. Seven speakers addressed the committee Monday, including two representatives of the Parkway School District who opposed using TIF for the project. 

Brian Whittle, the district’s finance director, said Parkway couldn’t find other examples where TIF had been used for residential development projects, and that approval could mean the loss of anywhere from $40 million to $234 million over time for the district. The district believes the development could bring more than 800 students into its schools, potentially forcing a redistricting process and the need for a new school. Parkway Board member Matthew Schindler told the panel he supported the development, but not the use of TIF, which he said could mean higher school district taxes for Chesterfield and beyond to recover lost revenue.

John Nations, the former Chesterfield Mayor and longtime former head of Bi-State Development Corporation, criticized Parkway’s student projections for the project, saying that the proposed rent for the apartments involved ($2,800) was double what Parkway was using to make its calculations. After the vote, district representatives said today was the first they’d heard of the $2,800 figure.

Current Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation told the panel Parkway should be able to absorb the influx of students given that enrollment has fallen by roughly 20% over the past twenty years. 

Other residents who spoke in favor of the incentives said the improvements that would come with the project were probably needed years ago, and that they didn't see how the city would otherwise be able to cover the costs without it.

The commission did not debate the proposal after Monday’s public hearing and before the vote.