urbanSTL

Sweet! *fingers crossed

I'd be in favor of new-build at the Legal Services of Eastern MO building. 

Specifically, I'm in favor of a sister building to Cortex One (SW corner of Forest Park Parkway & Boyle) being constructed. That building is prefab concrete, three stories, 177,000 sq.ft. of wet labs and office space. I'm very much in favor of new construction including wet lab space and other highly specific commercial buildings in this new office real estate environment; plus, such design would complement the whole Cortex district aesthetically. 

Concurrently, I want to see a sister building to Cortex One going west of the current building, the SE corner of Forest Park Parkway & Newstead. That site used to be those apartment buildings that were torn down in recent history, currently serving as a construction prep site for the new WashU Neuroscience building. Having an extended wall of 3-story lab office space, of the same design pattern, extending down FPP from Newstead past the Aloft Hotel at Boyle, would be aesthetically complementary to the entire site while also furthering its mission. 

^I believe the Cortex K development is the closest thing we have to a near-term development. Otherwise, everything's being held back by our Alderwoman, Sweet-T Pihl. 

Discussions of CWE NIMBYism are and should be considered separate from CORTEX-related development issues. I have my gripes with both and can seriously go off on each of them. 

Quasi-off-topic: Certain developments in the CWE get NIMBYs running at them for potentially impacting their day-to-day livelihoods, whether validly known or suspected. The land-owners often fight developments that'd bring in renters, whether college students or doctors. And, while many say they support liberal-minded idealism towards diverse neighborhoods full of every demographic, they really don't want the "poors" coming into their neighborhood, pushing off developments that include worker housing options. I remember being at a neighborhood meeting of the proposed apartments along the 4100 block of Lindell and saw these arguments personally. Overall, I'd say people are just scared of change that's proximate to where they already have their perceived ideal lives. 

That all said, what's going on in CORTEX is wholly different. CWE NIMBYs do not object to what goes on south of Forest Park Avenue. In fact, they cheer it on, with the idea that focused developments in CORTEX will bring the developments they want while leaving them alone. They even like the idea of new renters coming into the CWE if they live in or around CORTEX south of FPA, like what's been proposed behind the CORTEX One Building. 

Now, I work in the financial services world and have valid experience with real estate investments. With that foundation, I say that I believe the best commercial real estate investments to be made today can be found in (1) Industrial developments and (2) Specialized Office Space, those that cannot be substituted so readily by employees working from home. Among these specialized office spaces, I would bring up Wet Lab Space; Scientific Research Centers; Technology Research Centers; and SCIFs. These are exactly the types of developments CORTEX was created to further. If anything, the focus of development in STL should still be on CORTEX even amidst this giant transition of work-from-home employees. 

I maintain that the central hold-up is the foot-dragging by Alderwoman Pihl's office. On one hand, her office is, to put it politely, slow to respond to constituent thoughts on development, let alone to the developers themselves. On the other, she's very interested in reinventing the CWE, including and especially CORTEX, to economically diversity it. She wants to take a dedicated research office center and fill it with workforce housing, putting the kibosh on any developments that don't feature it. Even for those that do work with her on that subject, like Cortex K, it's awfully slow going to get it moving forward in its new iteration, often because margins are decreased enough to question whether any profitability remains in a development. 

I readily state that any action or inaction by Alderwoman Pihl's office is not the only issue. We're in a highly-inflationary environment. We're questioning whether or not a recession will take place later this year, or if they'll just say we had one in the first half of last year. Indeed, the post-pandemic work-from-home trend is very real. Same time, those developments proposed for CORTEX are exactly the ones that should be immune to this occurrence. New labs, research centers, and SCIFs should be popping up all the time for the area; instead, all I hear are grievances. The area just east of CORTEX is full of so many new things that it's getting hard to keep track, but inside CORTEX we don't have a damn thing going on. It's outrageous. 

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Therefore, whether they are unable or unwilling to get anything done, I find Alderwoman Pihl and her office to be the primary causes of CORTEX developments grinding to a halt.