The Sunset Hills Bass Pro Shops currently under construction is getting an expansion.
The Sunset Hills Planning and Zoning Commission heard a petition Oct. 5 for a conditional use permit for a change in use for the yet-to-be-opened Bass Pro in the shopping center at 3600 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The outdoor sporting goods store was originally slated to take over the former spaces of Toys “R” Us and Ross Dress for Less while The Tile Shop store in the center would remain; however Bass Pro has also acquired The Tile Shop and will now be designated as a larger Bass Pro “outdoor world” rather than an “outpost.” The outdoor world will offer boat sales and rentals, thus triggering the need for a CUP.
The acquisition of The Tile Shop space adds an additional 17,500 square feet, a portion of which will be used for boat rentals, sales and three servicing bays.
Bass Pro announced in August 2021 that it would open its third St. Louis location in Sunset Hills and the Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen approved an amended development plan for the development the following March. The demolition process is already underway and the store was scheduled to open by November, before the acquisition of The Tile Shop. It is unknown if and how much the acquisition will delay the store’s opening.
The shopping center itself was constructed in 1997. Aldermanic approval of the plan required that the developer develop access to and from the center from Watson Road. Traffic concerns were a major focus of discussion surrounding the project and before its approval aldermen required a plan to create a right-in entry from eastbound Watson Road to the shopping center.
At the Oct. 5 planning commission meeting, commissioners inquired about the construction status on the right-in Watson Road entrance. City Engineer Bryson Baker said that Castle Contracting had submitted conceptual plans to the Missouri Department of Transportation at the end of August and were still waiting to hear back.
“MoDOT already gave the pretty much yes it’s going to happen. They’re just checking the plans to make sure it meets all the requirements … It was a condition that they (the developer) make an effort to put that in. If MoDOT denies it, then there will be more discussion,” Baker said.
The commission unanimously recommended approval of the CUP with the conditions that developers receive approval from the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District for the site, establishment of a cross-access drive from the shopping center to the development to the south, the installation of sidewalks and an 8-foot fence between the back of the building and east property line as a buffer.