urbanSTL

BellaVilla wrote:

chriss752 wrote: Soil test drill on site for the BJC building at Newstead and Duncan.

This is the crazy expensive neuroscience building right? Any idea on when we will get some renderings?

I would say soon. It won’t be anything radical. A friend of mine works in the architecture firm designing it and said that a massing for the project is about 10 Floors.

2 new buildings with 10 floors. The Cortex area is starting to get some height. I'd imagine as the district fills out we will see more height in Cortex. Lower did say that in 20 years he envisions "Cortex" to be a mini silicon valley with infill development from the Arch to Forest Park. The more development we see that might not be such a radical idea now. This type of development begets further development which begets further development. As the district grows it's only reasonable that we will continue to see more national and even international development. Hard to imagine St. Louis as a burgeoning tech center, but with the rising cost of doing business on the coasts, anything is possible. 

A strong batch of Kool-Aid you’re brewing up their Goat!

wabash wrote: A strong batch of Kool-Aid you’re brewing up their Goat!

haha...obviously we will never been a silicon valley, but hey we can dream. You have to admit that Cortex has greatly exceeded many expectations. The amount of proposed and under construction developments around this area has been nothing short of amazing for St. Louis standards. Chris said we could see a built out Cortex in 10 years, where would the excess development go? We also haven't seen the true impact of having NGA on the near northside will do. 

Behind pay wall so not sure if any new tidbits from Wash U Hank Webber interview, article.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline

As the Midtown tech district rapidly grows, officials will have to grapple with physical and "social" infrastructure to ensure its success.

dredger wrote: Behind pay wall so not sure if any new tidbits from Wash U Hank Webber interview, article.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline

As the Midtown tech district rapidly grows, officials will have to grapple with physical and "social" infrastructure to ensure its success.

"The district has only a 1% vacancy rate so new capacity is critical. There is nothing worse than turning away great tenants," said Hank Webber

"How do you manage the size and scope that Cortex has become?"
Webber, "It is a challenge. The growth of Cortex has exceeded expectation. But that is a great problem to have. The key is to make sure the physical and social infrastructure keep up. On the physical side, we are very focused on parking and transportation. On the social side, we need to continue to create programs that connect the people of the district and provide opportunity for people to become successful."

So...needs more parking.  He didn't say anything about adding residents.

^Building more parking garages for now is 100% fine. Keep the momentum going. Where the jobs are people will be. Focus on turbo charging what has made this successful to this point. If growth continues at an increasing pace we will be fighting away private residential development before we know it. This is the exact opposite model the greater city has followed to this point and it is working. Leave it be.

People with great, high paying, tech/health/research centric jobs are not going to want to drive to Chesterfield. They'll get here eventually. Focus on the catalyst.

newstl2020 wrote: ^Building more parking garages for now is 100% fine. Keep the momentum going. Where the jobs are people will be. Focus on turbo charging what has made this successful to this point. If growth continues at an increasing pace we will be fighting away private residential development before we know it. This is the exact opposite model the greater city has followed to this point and it is working. Leave it be.

People with great, high paying, tech/health/research centric jobs are not going to want to drive to Chesterfield. They'll get here eventually. Focus on the catalyst.

^Sure, but it is a bit odd to open by stating that "Cortex is an intentional 24-7 mixed-use community.", and the first unmet need you mention is parking, when there is an insane amount of surface and garage parking in the immediate vicinity, and then proceed without any mention of residential at all...

urbanitas wrote:

newstl2020 wrote: ^Building more parking garages for now is 100% fine. Keep the momentum going. Where the jobs are people will be. Focus on turbo charging what has made this successful to this point. If growth continues at an increasing pace we will be fighting away private residential development before we know it. This is the exact opposite model the greater city has followed to this point and it is working. Leave it be.

People with great, high paying, tech/health/research centric jobs are not going to want to drive to Chesterfield. They'll get here eventually. Focus on the catalyst.

^Sure, but it is a bit odd to open by stating that "Cortex is an intentional 24-7 mixed-use community.", and the first unmet need you mention is parking, when there is an insane amount of surface and garage parking in the immediate vicinity, and then proceed without any mention of residential at all...

I think we have to keep in mind that St. Louis is still a very car oriented city. With that said, I don't think that parking garages are a bad idea if they are well placed and hidden by mixed-use building (which seems to be the plan). Also, Cortex is still very much in it's infancy. As we have seen with recent proposals from the district, they seem to be getting better in better with each addition. It's only a matter of time before Cortex really starts to function like a true urban district. As somebody else said. They will be have more residential proposals than they can handle in the very near future. For now, I think we will be seeing a lot more proposals for office to keep up with demand this insane amount of demand. Cortex seems to not be building office fast enough, which is a very good sign. 

urbanitas wrote:

newstl2020 wrote: ^Building more parking garages for now is 100% fine. Keep the momentum going. Where the jobs are people will be. Focus on turbo charging what has made this successful to this point. If growth continues at an increasing pace we will be fighting away private residential development before we know it. This is the exact opposite model the greater city has followed to this point and it is working. Leave it be.

People with great, high paying, tech/health/research centric jobs are not going to want to drive to Chesterfield. They'll get here eventually. Focus on the catalyst.

^Sure, but it is a bit odd to open by stating that "Cortex is an intentional 24-7 mixed-use community.", and the first unmet need you mention is parking, when there is an insane amount of surface and garage parking in the immediate vicinity, and then proceed without any mention of residential at all...

Completely fair point. I think the "issue" lies in the fact that no one involved believes the insane amount of surface parking is going to be existing in 5 years. Count me included in that group.

A lot of fair points.

In the end, I think the idea of adding residents should and continue to be secondary for CORTEX.  The more CORTEX, Wexford, Koman can add commercial, office, and lab space the better.  You will undoubtly have the commuters/parking garages but the more jobs you can add you will also get some much needed ridership on metrolink and those who would rather stay in the city and look to the immediate area from CWE, to Midtown to FPSE/Grove to live

In terms of transportation it would be nice to see CORTEX put some focus on projects in the immediate area now that Boyle metrolink station is added.  I think CORTEX should look at what will encourage more multi modal connectivity with the immediate community and neighborhoods like an at grade Forest Parkway and Grand Ave at grade interchange & improvements to Market street as the multimodal corridor with downtown, find a way to be involved make a pedestrian bridge from Foundry to Armory happen, fund increased bus frequency on routes that serve CORTEX and maybe even if extending Euclid Ave south and into FPSE. Do a lot of small projects that add or increase connectivity to the immediate.   

I would still like to see some residential TOD around the Cortex Station. While many of the offices and labs are stout buildings, some tall and dense residential can still bring some life to the area outside of business hours. The long term dream for the city is a dense and mixed use corridor from the Arch to Forest Park, let's do it. Separating the uses is what killed downtown.

There is literally a Link stop down a block from the heart of this district.  Stop encouraging personal transportation and be agents of change if you're so progressive, please.  Save a buck on garages, throw together a rail trolley that connects the district that will be of real use, perhaps.  Not sure what the solution is, but they don't seem to be exactly reaching very far if that's their idea of necessary infrastructure.

Yet another development island in St. Louis that can do so much better.  And yes, they definitely need quite a bit of residential.  The area is quickly renovating, so I can't see how it's not an attractive area to live.  You're sandwiched by the CWE and the Grove.  There is so much upward trajectory here.  I'd hate to see it squandered.

Some additional renderings of 4210 Duncan.

These renderings are incredible...

It looks like they are going to put some sort of artistic covering on the parking garage to make it look better. Who knows though. I think it would be nice to have some retail between the office and garage but I don’t think that’ll happen.

I'm super impressed with the momentum and overall quality of development at Cortex. This will be a game changer for the district for sure. I also like the incorporation of new architectural styles that have been popping up in the Central Corridor lately. We all love the old red brick St. Louis, but I'm thrilled developers have been pushing the architectural boundaries lately. With that said, the new designs are super trendy but still scream St. Louis to me. The modern industrial look is super cool. 

This building is freakin' awesome! I wonder if Koman down the street is maybe feeling a bit outplayed.

Architect? 

framer wrote:This building is freakin' awesome! I wonder if Koman down the street is maybe feeling a bit outplayed.

Architect? 

Koman isn't feeling worried or anxious. They think it is nice having more development in the area and they think it will bring more attention to Cortex so that Cortex K sees success. Plus, they believe that they'll attract different companies and have already been in talks with a few to move into to Cortex K upon completion. 

My guess would be HOK is the architect.

Maybe, just maybe, we're going to see Cortex start to go really vertical. 

They're not in danger of running out of space... yet. But if these developments keep coming, that day will, too. 

Would it look strange to have an 18 story tower in Cortex?