Consumers who'd rather walk outdoors on shopping excursions than be enclosed in a mall can look forward to seeing a lot more green in the coming years.

The trend toward lifestyle centers is starting to catch on in the St. Louis area, with new shopping developments and remodeling projects emphasizing outdoor space. These types of shopping centers tend to be upscale properties, with stores that have street entrances, sidewalks and landscaped grounds with such features as fountains and benches.

The newest lifestyle center is Town and Country Crossing, set to open in late June on the former Lucent Technologies campus at the southwest corner of Clayton and Woods Mill roads. The 45-acre development includes a lake of almost three acres. The landscaping will include more than 1,200 trees and 5,000 shrubs.

"The goal was to create something unique to St. Louis," said Ted Levis, principal of TNC Investors, the developer behind the center. "We've taken great pains to create something environmentally pleasing to look at."

Whole Foods Market Inc., one of the center's anchors, will be the first store to open, on June 25. It will be followed by the second anchor, Target, expected to open in July. Developers hope there will be about 40 retailers and that the center will be filled by next spring.

Another lifestyle center, The Meadows, is slated to open in August on a 64-acre site at Lake Saint Louis Boulevard and Highway 40.

The Meadows, which will have more than 20 stores — including Bed Bath & Beyond — is being developed by Chicago-based Davis Street Land Co. in partnership with Bruce Johnston of St. Louis. Davis Street manages and operates Plaza Frontenac.

Von Maur Department Stores, a Davenport, Iowa-based chain, will open its first St. Louis area store in the center, where it will be an anchor. It's tentatively scheduled to open in fall 2010.

A 90,000-square-foot portion of West County Center in Des Peres is being redeveloped into an open-air lifestyle wing. The construction, taking place at the location of the old Lord & Taylor store, is expected to be completed by this year's holiday season. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates Properties Inc. bought the mall last year from Australia's Westfield Group.

While most of the 1.2 million square-foot West County Center will remain a mall, the redevelopment will add walkways, fountains and an area containing four sit-down eateries with indoor and outdoor seating. The project's architect is St. Louis-based Lawrence Group. Barnes & Noble and Bravo! Cucina Italiana will be part of the redevelopment.

There also are plans to convert a portion of the former Crestwood Plaza, now called Crestwood Court, into an open-air shopping center. In March, Westfield sold the ailing mall to Chicago-based Centrum Properties and New York investment adviser Angelo, Gordon & Co.

The owners hope groundbreaking will take place in a year or two.

Crestwood originally was built as an open-air shopping center, but was partly enclosed in 1967 with the former Stix, Baer & Fuller department store. The remainder of the property was enclosed in 1984.

gappleson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8331