19 Feb Central Corridor Development Plans to Invigorate Region

Recent years have seen significant economic growth benefiting the entire St. Louis region with the addition of IKEA, Shriners Hospital, the Cortex Research facility located within the Central Corridor. The renovation of the historic Foundry building at will be another critical spoke in the wheel of progress for the region.

Steve Smith, Co-founder and CEO of the Lawrence Group architectural firm recently explained the plans for the building as well as surrounding area. While the Corridor is comprised of only 8 square miles within the sprawling 523 square mile metro area, it boasts 43% of the attributes that reflect a positive impression of the city nationally. It has the greatest concentration of students with almost 30% of total number of college students in the region. The Central Corridor also contains the greatest density of jobs, and highest percentage of tax revenue for the area with 40% of St. Louis’s 25 largest employers headquartered there. From the Cortex Innovative Community to T-Rex incubator downtown it also contains the largest concentration of entrepreneurship and innovation in the region. The Corridor also boasts world class health care, major sports teams, the largest number of tourist attractions and visitors, and a vast majority of the arts organizations. According to the 2010 Census, the Corridor has the highest level of diversity in the region. What this means for the area is:

With already 6.8 billion dollars of investments in the Corridor the development of the Foundry is planning to add original retail, locally owned and operated restaurants with locally sourced food as well as residential and office space. The 15 acre site will eventually be connected all the way from downtown to the loop by the Great River Greenway, a pedestrian and biking trail. Remediation of the site is due to be completed by this year with construction slated to be complete by late 2018 to beginning of 2019.

Holly Laws

314.277.8388
holly@hermannlondon.com