Chesterfield is spending up to $6 million from the tax-increment financing district underwriting the $2 billion Downtown Chesterfield redevelopment to demolish and rebuild its branch library — a significant draw on the same TIF pool funding the massive mixed-use project rising on the former mall site.

The money is structured as a reimbursement to the St. Louis County Library system, capped at $6 million under an intergovernmental agreement tied to the Chesterfield Regional TIF Redevelopment Plan. Justin Wyse, the city's director of planning, presented the agreement to the Planning & Public Works Committee in March 2025 and said he did not anticipate TIF funding to be an issue, according to committee meeting records.

The committee recommended approval for a roll call vote at the March 17, 2025 City Council meeting. The specific vote tally is not reflected in available council records, but the project has clearly moved forward — the old branch closed Jan. 31, 2026, and construction began in February.

What's Being Built

The project is a complete demolition and rebuild of the former Samuel C. Sachs Branch at 16400 Burkhardt Place. The new building is about 20,700 square feet — roughly 5,000 square feet larger than the branch it replaces — on a consolidated 4.25-acre tract at the southwest corner of Chesterfield Parkway West and Burkhardt Place, within the Downtown Chesterfield footprint.

The Architectural Review Board approved the design in June 2025: a modern rectangular building with a curved roofline.

The St. Louis County Library expects the new facility to open in early 2027, according to its website. During construction, patron holds are being redirected to the Thornhill Branch.

The New Branch

The rebuilt library will be named the Guy and Judy Jaffe Family Branch, after Guy Jaffe and Judy Schwartz Jaffe donated $1 million to the project.

It will be the first branch in the SLCL system to include a coffee shop — a Goshen Coffee Cafe — along with a fireplace, a children's space, and access to an upgraded adjacent park and garden, according to West News Magazine. SLCL Director and CEO Kristen Sorth confirmed the coffee shop partnership.

The new library is also designed for pedestrian access to Central Park and the Amphitheater within the broader Downtown Chesterfield development. Two existing curb cuts off Burkhardt Place and Veterans Place will be closed, replaced by a single vehicular entrance from Main Circle Drive.

TIF Context

The $6 million allocation draws from the same TIF pool supporting the Downtown Chesterfield redevelopment — a project that includes 2,363 residential units, more than a million square feet of office space, and 600,000 square feet of retail on the former Chesterfield Mall site, which closed in August 2024. In January 2026, the City Council approved a second amended redevelopment agreement with TSG Downtown Chesterfield Redevelopment LLC, indicating the broader project is actively advancing.

Mayor Dan Hurt has previously cautioned about TIF tradeoffs. During a separate discussion about a TriStar Properties residential project seeking TIF funds, Hurt said, "The choice to use TIF funds should be whether or not it is for a public purpose, otherwise it would set a precedent for other developers."

The library system has not disclosed the total construction cost. The $6 million TIF reimbursement and the Jaffes' $1 million donation account for $7 million in confirmed funding; how the remainder is being financed has not been detailed.