Meridian Plaza, Orchard Town Center quietly filling in outlots, storefronts

By Charles Bolinger

Editor • If you haven’t driven past Orchard Town Center or Meridian Plaza in Glen Carbon lately, you may not have noticed the changes.

Orchard Town Center

While the Meijer, the project’s anchor, has not begun vertical construction yet, other stores are coming to Glen Carbon’s largest retail center or in some cases, have already opened. 

Starting with the center’s outlots, two more have been claimed. Now that its site plans have been approved, Heartland Dental plans to open an office on a 0.99-acre parcel next to Olive Garden while Shake Shack has tentatively claimed a 1.21-acre outlot, near the popular Chick-fil-A (the development’s first outlot tenant) and Panda Express restaurants. Other outlot tenants include Plaza Tire, Club Car Wash and Dutch Bros. That leaves just 4.5 outlots remaining (Dutch Bros. only took half of its original outlot).

But that’s not all that’s happening there.

According to the Staenberg Group’s website, some of the so-called “junior anchor” spaces are now leased. After a drive-by inspection on Feb. 14, the one closest to Dutch Bros. will house an Oberweis Dairy location, at 1,638-square-feet but construction has yet to begin. 

Next to Oberweis, Kokuu Ramen and Sushi restaurant will open this spring to give Wasabi in Edwardsville some competition. The Kokuu space comprises two bays covering 3,150-square-feet and will give the company a second location after originating in Kirkwood, Missouri. 

Of the three other junior anchors in the shadow of Dick’s Sporting Goods, the one furthest from the big box store is now Jetset Pilates, comprising 1,821-square-feet. The other three junior anchor spaces appear ready-to-lease.

Shake Shack

If it gets approved by the board of trustees, the company’s first Illinois location would put it front and center with Panda Express and Chick-fil-A in Orchard Town Center.

It would be a 3,000-square-foot, fast casual restaurant with a drive-through window. They also requested a patio dining area with tables, chairs and an umbrella. 

As far as variances, they originally sought a parking variance but that has since been worked out. The latest on the restaurant, according to Erika Heil, director of community development, is that owners or their representatives will present their site to the village planning and zoning commission on Feb. 17 then later to the village board, either Feb. 24 or March 10. 

Meridian Plaza

A few miles south and west of Orchard Town Center, Meridian Plaza has been chugging along steadily. The 43-acre, mixed-use project has two owners these days. Plocher Construction began the project then spun the luxury apartment parcel off to Mia Rose Development out of St. Louis.

Currently the seven retail lots on the north end of the land are all sold, as are the 144 apartments of Latitude 038 and the site of 29 single-family homes and villas, now called Meridian Grove. That just leaves six lots of retail/commercial space along Meridian Road.

Zephyr Express Gas Station

A review of the Nov. 25, 2025 building and development meeting minutes reveals a lot behind the strategy of three of these developments. Bill Davison, long-time village resident and long-time chair of the village planning and zoning commission, is not in favor of a Zephyr Express at this location, which is Lot 1 of Meridian Plaza, in the northeast corner.

This would back to the Quest Diagnostics location and the Tribe Salon and Spa building.

Justin Venvertloh, a project manager with Thouvenot, Wade and Moerchen (TWM) said the project would offer 12 fuel pumps and a convenience store encompassing 6,400-square-feet. Three months ago, the hours of operation may be 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. not a 24-hour location.

The site would have two proposed entrances/exits, one from Magnolia Drive and another closer to Route 157.

“This was, as you guys are well aware, a master plan development,” Venvertloh reminded the committee. “We had previously done a traffic study based on some known end-users, so when intersections and interior streets were planned for this development, we took into account all of the traffic generation, including this project. 

“We always had planned a convenience store at this location and it’s in the traffic study as such. They provided a dedicated right-turn lane into this project along 157 and widened Meridian Road to provide dedicated left-turn lanes and a right-turn lane at 157 and Meridian.”

Venvertloh said more than $1 million was spent on these improvements. The interior streets are all three-laned, with room for a center left-turn lane, plus the roundabout.

One unique feature of the ZX will be its drive-through window on the eastern side of the site. There will be direct pedestrian access, too, from a sidewalk.

Trustee Brian Paul asked what happens at the drive-through. 

“Everything. We sell everything through the drive-through. You can pay for gas through it; you can get anything you want in the store through the drive-through. We will have food, coffee and soda. Most of our locations currently have a drive-through,” said either Jay Wilkinson or J.D. Street.

Heil asked about the ZX at 159 and Main Street. The answer is that one does not belong to their group even though they supply the fuel. The pair own ZX locations in Troy and Bunker Hill. The site would feature 49 parking spaces; the village requires 32. It passed the committee unanimously. Heil said on Feb. 6 that the site plan here is under review.

Joe’s Pizza

Across Magnolia Drive from the ZX is a planned, free-standing Joe’s Pizza location. 

X-Golf, F-45, Lottie’s

Diagonal from the planned Joe’s Pizza and south of the ZX are a pair of one-story buildings. X-Golf opened in the summer of 2024 with its six golf simulators and full bar. In the other building at 88 Magnolia is F-45, a fitness club and a planned spot for Lottie’s Cafe (as of November 2025). 

Dental Office

Sunset Hills Family Dentistry is already open on the other (west) side of the planned Joe’s Pizza slot.

Schucks

Long-rumored to be coming to Meridian Plaza is the Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar. Currently, the nearest one is in Naperville, with the majority of them located within the Carolinas. Their corporate office did not respond to a reporter’s questions after he used the contact form on their website.

Cornerstone office building

At the northwestern corner of the site (Lot 6) a three-story office building is planned at 95 Magnolia Drive. The plan is for a three-story office structure covering 9,000-square-feet. Two variances are requested, one for parking and the other for storm sewer piping. 

In November 2025, village staff supported both variances, which would reduce the number of parking stalls by 10 for a total of 99 and use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping. The owner is GCT Holding LLC. There would be one ingress/egress location for the site. 

Jimmy John’s

Rounding out the seven retail lots on the north end of the development is a Jimmy John’s location that is rapidly nearing its grand opening. It’ll be the second one in Glen Carbon.

Other Glen Carbon Developments

Truett Substation

Last fall, Ameren Illinois created a preliminary plan to install a new 345-kilovolt (kV) substation, to be named the Truett Substation, immediately southeast of the Interstate 270-255 interchange. 

It was initially to go to construction next summer and go online in the winter of 2028. According to an initial concept plan, the substation would cover 12 of 40 acres with a 20-acre retention basin nearby. As of now, one parcel is within the village while a second parcel would need to be split and annexed into Glen Carbon.

Heil said that the village has not received anything further from the utility regarding the project.

“Ameren is examining the feasibility of adding a substation in Glen Carbon to enhance energy resiliency and improve capacity to support business and residential growth in the region,” said Brian Bretsch, public and media relations manager for Ameren Illinois via email on Feb. 9. “There is no timetable for a decision.”

Legacy Heights

A proposal to turn 28 acres east of the village post office was also discussed. Legacy Heights would be located at Main Street and East Ingle Road, east of the village post office. Cast as a mixed-use planned development, the land is currently zoned multi-family residential. The current residence (111 East Ingle) would become three, single-family estate lots, 16 villa lots and one townhome lot with 90 units. The townhomes would be six-unit buildings. The total number would be 125 with a total density of 4.42 units per acre.

East Ingle would provide access for the estate lots while public streets would need to be built for the rest of the development. A rendering shows two cul-de-sacs, McKenna Brooke Blvd. and Haley Anne Ave. to access the villas and the townhomes. The townhomes’ interior street would be named Emma Jane Lane. 

The average daily traffic count along Glen Carbon Road near the proposed entrance to Legacy Heights was 5,750 vehicles in 2023, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. 

Heil said on Feb. 6 that Legacy Heights’ developers will have to submit a site plan for review if they wish to proceed. 

• As of Jan. 10, 2026, six of the 104 available lots in the Hidden Hills subdivision have been sold. This is a two-phase, single-family home development on Glen Carbon Road, west of the village’s post office. Coda Construction and Spencer Construction are responsible for building the homes

• Wing Snob has moved into part of the former Mattress Firm location on Route 159
• On Aug. 4, 2025, Victory Men’s Health broke ground on another spot in the Sunset Park Plaza complex along Route 157 that houses Edley’s BBQ and Brightly Senior Living. The $140 million project will comprise 9,000-square-feet and include a gym, spa and corporate offices. The final Sunset Park Plaza vacancy was filled by The Retina Institute, which moved from its former Country Club Plaza location to the final vacant spot in the four-plex
• On Ginger Creek Parkway, six villas, two per building, are desired to fill in the parkway area, south of Tribe Salon and Spa. Heil said again on Feb. 6 that the village has not received anything from the prospective developer on this project
• Heritage Crossing Multifamily Project is another project out of TWM. In this case, it’s a two-building project consisting of 52 walk-up apartments on land near 270 and Heritage Crossing. Heil said the developer wanted an amendment to the planned development procedure (PDP) created back when the nearby Hampton Inn hotel was built in 2007. The developer also wants a zoning change to multi-family residential. Heil denied recommending the project move forward at the February 2025 building and development meeting. However, the committee voted unanimously to move the project forward to planning and zoning with the committee’s recommendation. She wrote on Feb. 6 that the developer has not sent anything to the village about the project
• Goshen Coffee is now in the old Associated Bank building on Junction Drive

 

Caption – while underground remediation is complete at the future Meijer’s site in Orchard Town Center, building construction has not yet begun. This image was taken Feb. 14. (Charles Bolinger photo)