urbanSTL

^ I second your point about the benefit of having a major company or two come in as well.... I think Pittsburgh's having Google and Apple not only brought them hundreds of jobs but their presence also has advanced the city's national perception, which in turn lures even more $$ for their growing tech industry.

Success brings success and I'm optimistic that we can lure some established tech and financial companies to add to our homegrown wins; hopefully the sooner the better.

Another location is in the planning stages for Los Angeles.

sirshankalot wrote:I have a very good drinking buddy who works for a company at Cortex that will go un-mentioned....He says that the rumors he hears weekly, if not daily, about entities looking at Cortex would blow me away. He says it has gotten so out-of-hand that he doesn't even repeat these rumors to anyone anymore...just thought I'd add that, it really is an example of the momentum going on there....

Nice.
This is wishful thinking on my part, but I feel that Chouteau's Grove is based on knowing that one of these big name 'mind-blowers' is setting up shop. So I daily convince myself a major deal is in the works and developers like Green Street and all the sudden rehabs in the Grove are being done to meet impending demand.

A more recent rendering of part of Cortex Commons...

is that an amphitheatre...? Will probably see about as much use as Keiner. I'd rather see them put the money toward a subsurface Metrostop. (and yes I'm just going to keep harping on this till they break ground on the new stop)

^ It's an exciting time for sure in the area.

Within Cortex alone, this year should see work begin on the metrolink station and Tech Shop, the completion of the Commons and re-opening of Boyle, and the opening of a certain Swedish retailer and I believe associated street treatments to Vandeventer. It should also see the completion of the expansion of Center for Emerging Technologies building and @4240 fill up with workers and a Park Central cafe. Hopefully we'll also see the Silo Lofts project take solid form and hear more on the plans for the Crescent Building as well as for the Wexford project on the steel site, perhaps the most important site of them all.

imran wrote:Isn't it annoying that an almost 100 yr old charmer of a building has to be sacrificed for the Tech shop when there is no shortage of grassy fields and bland parking lots in and around CORTEX?

Yes, but—a (hopefully) shiny new, glass and steel building along FFP—which will be a story taller than the current Brauer building—is a welcome addition for me. I had to look at streetview to remember what the current building looked like. IOW, it didn't leave an impression on me and I drive by there all the time.

This new building is a way to make one of the gateways really stand out and become one of the new faces of Cortex.
Let's hope it's a bold, branded design.

^ hopefully it will be strong design; I do think though that a rehabbed building with some good signage would have been a strong marker for Cortex.

^^ thanks, wabash, for some reason I was thinking a 2016 opening instead of 2017, but hopefully we can squeeze in a ceremonial ground-breaking on the station by the end of the year.

Just some other quick observations on other construction in the general Cortex area...

-- STLCOP has a lot of glass already in and should be completed this year; the sign says Spring 2015 but I think that might be a bit ambitious.
-- McKinley Research is also coming along but I'm not sure what expected completion date is
-- Shriner's will open this Spring
-- the parking garage on Duncan is also coming along

Anyone know if that is some sort of plaza going in on Taylor across from the McKinley Research Building and just south of what I think is the WashU Institute of Public Health?

A cool new sign has been added to the top of the @4240 Building.

Check it out HERE.

St. Louis-based app making all kinds of news. Was on NBC's Today Show this morning.

Click link here.

[Report doesn't mention it's a St. Louis-based app, but footage shows inside of CORTEX's @4240 Building]

Article: 'Invisible Boyfriend': App helps invent fake boyfriend, maintain realistic digital relationship