Menards No Longer Plans to Build in O'Fallon

O'Fallon residents who were looking forward to a Menards close to home will have to travel to St. Peters to shop this spring. 

As Patch previously reported, a developer with a contract on a piece of property south of Highway N announced plans in March 2012 to build a Menards home improvement store. Menards is a national chain that began moving into the St. Louis area last spring. 

The actual store would have been located in O'Fallon, but outlots would have been in the the City of Lake Saint Louis. Lake Saint Louis would also maintain Orf Road and Old Highway N, roads that would service the retail development. 

According to the O'Fallon Planning and Zoning Commission meeting agenda packet, representatives from the store requested to withdraw the applications for the conditional use permit, site plan and rezoning for the project at the end of November. 

O'Fallon Planning and Development Director David Woods said he was told the decision was made looking at the "big picture," which included the economic direction of the country, in addition to the fact that another Menards is currently under construction nearby in St. Peters. 

"I wouldn't say it's definite, they might want to revisit the idea in a couple of years," Woods said, regarding future plans for a store in O'Fallon. 

As Patch previously reported, the Menards is set to open in St. Peters in the spring of 2013. The store would add 150-200 jobs to the area. If construction remains on schedule, the St. Peters location could be the first Menards in the region to open.