CORTEX: St. Louis' Life Sciences and Technology District

dredger · PostJul 06, 2016#9262016-07-06T17:55+00:00

Interesting comments coming out of CORTEX after Wexford being acquired as reported by business journals. Dennis Lower seems to have all but confirmed Microsoft anchoring Wexford's next CORTEX building from what I take from the article

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog ... after.html

Wexford Science & Technology’s next development in the Cortex innovation district — a $140 million multi-building, mixed-use project that is expected to be anchored by Microsoft — could speed up following Wexford’s deal to be acquired by Ventas Inc.

That’s according to Dennis Lower, president and CEO of Cortex, who said Cortex’s broader third phase, which would cost around $300 million and include a 120-room hotel and a 200-unit residential development, would also begin moving forward.

moorlander · PostJul 06, 2016#9272016-07-06T19:24+00:00

It's nice to be acquired by someone with deeper pockets

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dredger · PostJul 06, 2016#9282016-07-06T21:07+00:00

moorlander wrote:It's nice to be acquired by someone with deeper pockets

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The connections to bioscience is also pretty impressive.

I also thought the timing was interested as I got to my office later then usual and was able listen in on a debate of proposed San Fran fair share tax going after the tech industry dollars. I can understand the arguments from both sides but also thought of company like Square looking to expand presence in St Louis when a lot of the discussion focused on the large number of tax credits given to tech companies for San Fran Mid-market development & how it should be clawed back. Dollars will go a long ways for both companies and employees in CORTEX relative to San Fran. Wexford has put together some solid developments outside of San Fran & Silicon Valley.

framer · PostJul 07, 2016#9292016-07-07T04:14+00:00

I just hope that Ventas is as bullish on St. Louis as Wexford has been.

dredger · PostJul 07, 2016#9302016-07-07T06:25+00:00

framer wrote:I just hope that Ventas is as bullish on St. Louis as Wexford has been.

Agree, apparently Dennis Lower still thinks Wexford is still bullish on St. Louis. He is also someone who is getting paid to put a positive spin or worse yet, embracing the spin sent his way, on things he can't control. In that case, sometimes it is better if people who run or manage things would just be more frank about it or just the honest truth like I have no idea until things settle out with Wexford new owners. Like a certain manager of a certain baseball team needs to say that his bullpen sucks and won't even be able to contend for a wild card until something changes.

The positive side in the article is the reference to Microsoft as part of Wexford next mini development. CORTEX has kept a tight lid on pending projects or developments or will shoot down any hear say within hours so that was a good sign.

Alex Ihnen · PostJul 07, 2016#9312016-07-07T13:09+00:00

Here's the nextSTL piece on Wexford/Cortex projects. Not a lot beyond the biz journal, but with a few images. It seems that things are coming along and perhaps had moved slower than planned as Wexford was in the process of being acquired.

https://nextstl.com/2016/07/cortex-deve ... quisition/

dredger · PostJul 08, 2016#9322016-07-08T02:13+00:00

^ Would be nice if CORTEX/Wexford would float some new renderings to give a better idea what is going through their minds. Some of the placeholders renderings have accomplished their purpose.

wabash · PostJul 11, 2016#9332016-07-11T01:22+00:00

user28 · PostJul 11, 2016#9342016-07-11T16:57+00:00

friend of mine posted this online in the last week or so, and it even got put in a piece on the cortex webpage about the award they recently received. basically she documented the development in cortex and mapped it out in ArcGIS (spatial mapping software) and put it on the software manufacturer's online page, which is available for all of the software's users. it is very useful and you may be surprised to see a new rendering of Eat of Cortex in there with a taller building where the apartment complex was before.

http://jll.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJour ... 477148a0ba

moorlander · PostJul 11, 2016#9352016-07-11T17:55+00:00

William jewel college?

STLrainbow · PostJul 11, 2016#9362016-07-11T18:12+00:00

^ they own that parcel... my assumption is they received it from prior owner as a tax write-off.

Alex Ihnen · PostJul 11, 2016#9372016-07-11T19:51+00:00

If only The Standard apartments looked like that. :/

imran · PostJul 11, 2016#9382016-07-11T23:15+00:00

Hard to tell but in the latest rendering, is the art deco fire station at Vand-FFP gone and replaced by grass?

user28 · PostJul 11, 2016#9392016-07-11T23:33+00:00

Looks like they just put a green tint on that building and the one next to it, maybe because they couldn't make the rendering without compromising the buildings behind it

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dredger · PostJul 12, 2016#9402016-07-12T01:33+00:00

wabash wrote:

In hindsight, I wonder if CORTEX is kicking itself for not going another 2-4 stories higher on this building. Believe it is 100% leased out if not mistaken.

wabash · PostJul 12, 2016#9412016-07-12T01:58+00:00

^For such a prominent corner/entrance to Cortex another story or two (or at least a slightly more attention grabbing design or even design element like @4240) would be nice. But I guess it'll make the next building viable that much sooner.

dredger · PostAug 03, 2016#9422016-08-03T18:51+00:00

Not much more details but some tidbits on timeline for next phase. However, without any announcements as of late who knows. Minor mention of Lawrence group development but nothing added.

As far as managing expectations, trying to decide if Cortex wrote the statements for the study or the study wrote on behalf of Cortex being how tight lipped they have been.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog ... -grow.html

Wexford Science & Technology’s next development in the Cortex innovation district a $140 million multi-building, mixed-use project that is expected to be anchored by Microsoft is expected to get underway later this year. The project is part of Cortex’s broader third phase, which would cost around $300 million and include a 120-room hotel and a 200-unit residential development, would also begin moving forward.

STLrainbow · PostAug 05, 2016#9432016-08-05T21:32+00:00

Cleveland doesn't quite have the equivalent of the Cortex district per se. but it does have a large health and tech "corridor" with the Cleveland Clinic a player... here's a look at a growing Clinic sponsored start-up that was bought last year by IBM, which has started a division focusing on health tech:

IBM eyes new office building on Cleveland Clinic land, to house Explorys subsidiary
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... rt_m-rpt-1

IBM's heightened profile here also could lend weight to Cleveland's attempts to recast itself as a city where high-tech, high-paying jobs can coexist with a more traditional manufacturing base. Explorys has access to anonymized records spanning more than 50 million people and has the capacity to sift electronic data to find meaningful patterns related to diseases, treatments, drug safety, costs and results.

"We want to make Northeast Ohio the epicenter of health care transformation worldwide," said Stephen McHale, an Explorys co-founder and the company's chief executive officer. "We think we can lead the way. ... This is our opportunity to really grow more health IT here and lead the market. It's really, really important and very exciting..."

It'l be interesting to see if a place like Cleveland or STL really can become a dominant health/ bio-med tech center in time.

PostAug 19, 2016#9442016-08-19T18:27+00:00

Anyone have a membership or plan to get one for TechShop?

They'll be having an open house on Saturday 1-5.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 4a914.html

pat · PostAug 22, 2016#9452016-08-22T20:34+00:00

I went to the open house. Very cool. Should be awesome. Long line the entire time. I signed up for a membership.

flipflopju · PostAug 22, 2016#9462016-08-22T21:17+00:00

The TechShop open house had about 600-800 people at it Saturday, exceeding even their expectations.

dredger · PostAug 25, 2016#9472016-08-25T23:24+00:00

Can't help to think that Cortex/Wexford must be on the cusp of announcing the $140 million mixed use/hotel/office development if things are such that Lawrence Group can move along with the Federal Mogul site faster then most of us would have expect.

Presbyterian · PostAug 26, 2016#9482016-08-26T00:28+00:00

dredger wrote:Can't help to think that Cortex/Wexford must be on the cusp of announcing the $140 million mixed use/hotel/office development.

I think they are.

STLrainbow · PostAug 26, 2016#9492016-08-26T02:27+00:00

Was walking the area today... all the vegetation is in the ground and toys in the windows at Tech Shop; looking good! And you can almost smell the anticipation of infill on the adjacent cleared parcels. And there are very few empty parking spaces... design work has begun on the Metrolink station, they need to open that sucker fast.

PostAug 29, 2016#9502016-08-29T20:04+00:00

Square will be taking space in the Cortex One Building
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog ... tions.html (sub article)

CORTEX: St. Louis' Life Sciences and Technology District

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