A new restaurant, other details announced for Glen Carbon’s Orchard Town Center project

Another restaurant has signed on to be part of the Orchard Town Center development in Glen Carbon.

Olive Garden is the latest to join previously announced Meijer, Chick-fil-A and Tidal Wave Express in the new development at the intersection of Troy Road (IL 159) and Governors Parkway, according to Tim Lowe, senior vice president of leasing and development for The Staenberg Group.

Lowe spoke to a group from the Village of Glen Carbon Residents Advisory Board Thursday evening, providing new information about the Orchard Town Center project.

Breakdown of the plans

Work on the center started in the spring with the clearing of the area. Construction has not started yet.

Lowe said the Orchard Town Center project has three retail components: the anchor, the area along Troy Road and Governors Parkway, which consists of 12 main outlots, and the retail area south of the Meijer anchor site, or the junior anchors.

The center’s development is in two phases.

Phase One will focus on the northern half of the new shopping center, including the anchor — Meijer — and four of the main outlots, which are slated for openings in March and summer 2023.

Three of these outlots are Chick-fil-A, Tidal Wave Express Car Wash and Olive Garden.

Lowe said that Chick-fil-A will close on the land in August and is to open in March 2023. Tidal Wave will close in September with an opening date of March or April 2023.

Olive Garden probably won’t close until later this year, according to Lowe, and is probably looking at a summer 2023 opening.

The Staenberg Group has multiple opportunities for another quality restaurant for the fourth lot, although nothing is finalized yet, Lowe said.

Phase One will also include improvements to the intersection by Schnucks and Edwardsville Crossing with the addition of turn lanes.

As for Meijer grocery store, they’re “gonna be a little bit behind,” said Lowe.

“We had hoped they would be opening earlier next year. They haven’t announced an opening date, but it’s probably closer to the end of the year next year before they open,” he said.

Meijer is a Midwest grocery store company. This will be its first store in the St. Louis region.

Meijer is working to get plan approvals through the Village of Glen Carbon.

BND inquiries sent to Meijer’s public relations team were not immediately answered.

Phase Two: ‘Everything else’

Phase Two of the project involves “everything else,” according to Lowe. This includes more restaurants and retail, more traffic improvements and plans for a park area.

The Staenberg Group is “working on a couple of different options that could include one large 50,000-square-foot box with some retail and restaurants,” said Lowe of the junior anchor lots south of Meijer.

Having Meijer as the anchor has attracted interest from quality businesses, Lowe said. Options include major sporting goods stores, an REI-like concept and smaller local tenants, like a pilates studio or coffee shop.

Constructing a multi-tenant building for local businesses in addition to some of the anchors creates opportunities to engage the park area. Restaurants with outdoor seating areas facing the park area will help blend into the green space, which will have trees and stopping points off the existing bike trail that will connect to the shopping center.

More turn lanes will also be added to help ease the flow of traffic leading in and out of the center.

“Ultimately, … we wanna deliver as much as we can in ‘23, but I think you’ll see most of the activity and the filling of it out in probably early ‘24 to late ‘24,” said Lowe.

Orchard Town Center Site Pan by Jennifer Green on Scribd