urbanSTL

^ You hate to think it, but the TIGER grant application funding the metrolink station is bigger then ever. The problem with TIGER grants being that they are so competitive and very difficult to secure a grant considering the number of applications submitted. The bright side, it is probably one of the better TIGER applications sent in over the region's history of applications.

Boston write-up of CIC's presence in Saint Louis, including the Venture Café:
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/06/1 ... of-summer/

It's an exciting time for Venture Café, Martinez-Vela continued:

St. Louis is the first opportunity for us to translate our mission to a new city. St. Louis is a very exciting place to be too. You can feel the energy when you’re there. We are thrilled to have found a great Executive Director, Travis Sheridan, for our work there. He will give a unique St. Louis character to our mission, which is to build communities of innovation, expand the definition of innovation and entrepreneurship, and build a more inclusive innovation economy.

jstriebel wrote:I hate to be cynical (I mean, I REALLY hate to be cynical), but I have a feeling the pro-Amendment 7 side may have had something to do with this.

There is money for a new light rail station in the MoDot priority list. Now they can say this is the only way it gets built.

I could be wrong, though. It's hard not to assume the worst from many of our politicians at this point, though.

Doubt it related at all, this is all due to low state rev

I would put more faith in TIGER grant the Gov Nixon even though the odds are against a TIGER grant award. The gov like the MO statehouse seems to spend most of his time in pissing contest over state funding and taxes with the MO statehouse or vice versa unless it is a photo op for a jobs tax credit award (think recent German seed company) . Capital investment by the state has been nil

On top of it, I think the article notes an application for a piece of the $11 million pie will be put in for another business incubator. That is the last thing the region needs.

Excuse my ignorance, but I assume the Cortex Metro station is the same stop as the IKEA stop or are they 2 different stations?

I was on the Metro yesterday and it seemed like the station would have to be one in the same. Maybe I'm wrong.

DogtownBnR wrote:Excuse my ignorance, but I assume the Cortex Metro station is the same stop as the IKEA stop or are they 2 different stations?

I was on the Metro yesterday and it seemed like the station would have to be one in the same. Maybe I'm wrong.

I am pretty certain that the stop in question is at Sarah and Boyle, near both Cortex and IKEA.

^If that is the case, I'd have to assume that IKEA and Pace would have some pull to assist Cortex in getting this done. Hopefully, one way or the other, it does get done. There is a lot of dirt moving down there. Hopefully, the delay is not too long. I noticed a homeless camp under the bridge, with a few guys hanging out. I hope the station eliminates that camp as well. Nothing against the homeless, but that is not what you want people to see, when using out public transit system.

^^ Cortex station will be @ Boyle just north of Clayton. (Sarah is a block east of Boyle.) I've never heard of an IKEA stop but it would be walkable from a Boyle stop. I could see a future stop at Vandeventer depending on how dense growth extends past Cortex.

I feel like there's some unnecessary competition going on. Tech co's and initiatives going to Cortex from Downtown St. Louis will just reduce the density of what's happening in Downtown. Cortex makes more sense having the bio-tech niche than trying to be all things to all sectors. Furthermore, Cortex seems "big business" or "corporate" like with the participating entities such as WashU/BJC, Solae, and now CIC.

Isn't Cortex mainly filled with companies needing/utilizing lab space? They should stick to that. Launch Code should team up with T-Rex and the other accelerators that have been making major investments in Downtown. Even Tech Shop seems out of place in Cortex.. I'm not saying Tech Shop can't/won't succeed there, but the "maker movement" aligns more with whats going on Downtown, than it does at Cortex.

I don't mean to sound like I'm promoting complete sector/industry segregation, but we as a region should be completely cognizant of what's going on in these different districts (BRDG Park for Plant Science; Cortex for Healthcare/life Science; and Downtown St. Louis for software tech & media) and try to help each other by directing like-companies to where they can best thrive.

I may be wrong, but I thought the whole point of CORTEX was to bring the brightest minds from several different sectors, from finance to app development to the bio-sciences and for that overlap to facilitate moments of creation and innovation that would not have been possible if these people had not been in close proximity with each other, sharing an elevator or in line for a cup of coffee. If that is the goal, I think it is essential that CORTEX diversifies. A center for medical and bio-science research and advancement is great, but that plus cutting edge app development located next to a growing company like AB Mauri, which is past the stage of most of these companies and can indirectly, or directly, offer advice for them to move forward. Of course, this is a simplification, but I think this is the sort of place that CORTEX is cultivating, and they seem to be doing an awesome job, far surpassing anything most St. Louisans could have imagined just a decade ago. I do not for a second believe we would be getting an IKEA had it not been for the tireless work of those at CORTEX and it's founding institutions. Would the CWE and Grove surged with such strength if CORTEX was not there? I don't think so.

^ Can understand the arguments, but going back to launchcode itself. I have a tough time seeing things going forward as a whole when the business journal main article for the week is how CORTEX is trying to get launchcode to move from downtown to CORTEX. Too bad the founder of Launchcode can't convince his partner and board to rethink Square's lack of meaningful presence in the city where their idea was originally developed.

Ebsy wrote:I may be wrong, but I thought the whole point of CORTEX was to bring the brightest minds from several different sectors, from finance to app development to the bio-sciences and for that overlap to facilitate moments of creation and innovation that would not have been possible if these people had not been in close proximity with each other, sharing an elevator or in line for a cup of coffee. If that is the goal, I think it is essential that CORTEX diversifies. A center for medical and bio-science research and advancement is great, but that plus cutting edge app development located next to a growing company like AB Mauri, which is past the stage of most of these companies and can indirectly, or directly, offer advice for them to move forward.

From the Cortex website: Cortex is mid-America’s premiere hub for bioscience and technology research, development and commercialization, anchoring St. Louis’ growing ecosystem of innovative startups and established companies.

That little excerpt speaks directly to the healthcare/pharma industry. What you described is the point of every "innovation district" - which is not a bad point/direction to have, but that same point/direction you gave can be adopted by every downtown or any major employment center across the world. So to me, that's pretty broad. I'm not saying Cortex can't pivot to be all things to all sectors, but too many overlaps and we could be looking at STL vs STL 2.0 and that's not what I think the region should be aiming for. The reason Cortex is so attractive, especially to those outside of our region, was it's niche in biosciences and research and its connection (and financial backing) to WashU/BJC.

Ebsy wrote:Of course, this is a simplification, but I think this is the sort of place that CORTEX is cultivating, and they seem to be doing an awesome job, far surpassing anything most St. Louisans could have imagined just a decade ago. I do not for a second believe we would be getting an IKEA had it not been for the tireless work of those at CORTEX and it's founding institutions. Would the CWE and Grove surged with such strength if CORTEX was not there? I don't think so.

I don't know - I'm sure we'll be getting an IKEA somewhere in the area if they didn't choose that location. Also im not too sure how much the CWE or the Grove has "surged" since Cortex. CWE has always been a hot market.

Don't get me wrong, I love what's happening in that area and all that Cortex has planned but I don't want to see a Cortex Innovation district vs Downtown St. Louis Innovation district match because if I had to guess, with Cortex's corporate backing, they could easily blow Downtown St. Louis out of the water.

Lastly, I don't mean to sound so overly dramatic...I don't think that Cortex would purposely battle Downtown for software technology firms, but sometimes, when you have the machine going, the name of the game is "succeed by any means necessary." And no, TRex, Arch Grants, Capital Innovators, etc aren't going anywhere. The people involved and have spent an incredible amount of time and resources...they'll be just fine.

To be entirely accurate, the blurp says bioscience AND technology, not OR. I don't think they would be bringing in Launchcode if they were interpretting it as you are.

The way I understand it is that Cortex started out as an effort to locate a rather traditional office park (with biotech as a focus) in the city -- essentially looking to garner several bigger employers but has since grown into an expanded focus on becoming a vibrant, broader innovation community that facilitates new ideas in an attractive district. I think that transformation can be seen from the early securing of the Solae HQ (since acquired by Monsanto) to now an emphasis on things like CIC, Tech Shop and the like. Big companies won't be turned down of course, but the goal is to foster creativity whether it comes from a single tinkerer or a Fortune 500 company.

edit: I also meant to say that bio and medical tech/science will always be somewhat of a focus with the main stakeholder's backgrounds but I'm fine with a broader attraction so long as Cortex continues to develop the Saint Louis innovation culture as whole... and I think it is doing that.

Roger, I'm I correct in stating the CORTEX will be closing on the US Metals property purchase this month? Has anyone have any insight on progress for this site? I think that is a very important milestone for phase IV going forward and therefore CORTEX continue to move forward.

I think Silo Lofts and a Hotel proposal/announcement will happen rather quickly if and when CORTEX can announce build out and another round of tenants for the US Metals Property. In the meantime, hold your breath and CORTEX snags funding for metrolink station with one of its lines in the water. Supposedly TIGER grant announcements were suppose to happen sooner rather than later.