St. Louis is experiencing an explosion of activity in the central core of the market. What was once
considered two separate and distinct central business districts - the City of St. Louis and its suburban
twin downtown Clayton – are now being connected by new development activity in the Downtown West,
Midtown, and Central West End neighborhoods.
The Downtown West neighborhood has elevated its entertainment and tourism draw with the recent
$187 million renovation to Union Station that included a new Ferris wheel and aquarium in addition
to the $461 million development of a 22,500 seat MLS soccer stadium currently under construction.
St. Louis City SC plans to include the team’s headquarters and a training facility on their stadium’s
campus. The impact of this development to Downtown West is quite substantial. MODOT shut down the
I-64 & Market Street exit to facilitate the project and is reconfiguring other exits to improve traffic flow
to the Downtown West neighborhood. Several new hotels are also in the works to support the activity
that is expected in the area with the development of the new stadium.
Midtown has a lot of exciting growth with the opening of City Foundry, a $300M 15-acre creative
adaptive reuse project, the current development of the Armory District ($55M), and the Steelcote Square
project ($100M). New retailers opening soon in this area include Target, Topgolf, Alamo Drafthouse,
TruFusion, City Winery, and Puttshack.
The Central West End is home to the BJC medical complex, the Euclid retail and entertainment district,
over 3,000 apartments and condos, and the Cortex Innovation District. Cortex continues to grow, and
now touts over 1.95 million square feet and $675 million in investment. The 415+ companies in the
district employ more than 5,800 people.
Merging the two central business districts is creating a strong central corridor with critical mass, which
is important for the St. Louis region. This positive momentum should then continue to fuel future
growth in all sectors of this corridor and has even spurred more development within the Clayton central
business district.
Clayton, which currently has over 11.5 million square feet of premier office space with over 1,000,000
square feet of boutiques, galleries, and restaurants, has seven developments planned or under
construction totaling over $600 million. These projects will add a significant amount of office, hotel,
residential, and retail space to the trade area.
A few of the development projects include:
Real estate developer CRG recently announced they are pursuing an ambitious $500M redevelopment
of the 9-acre Caleres headquarters campus. CRG plans to build an office building, a boutique hotel,
luxury condos and townhouses, and an athletic resort, and hopes to keep Caleres and its 650
employees as a tenant.
The significant investment being made along the I-64 central corridor will have a lasting impact to
the St. Louis metro area. The projects will bring additional tourism to St. Louis as well as adding a
substantial number of new jobs. The new developments illustrate the sentiment of today’s active
entrepreneurs that St. Louis is a stable, innovative, and attractive market for investment.
We are delighted to welcome Kristin Keane back to Pace Properties!
Kristin took a 4-year hiatus from the real estate business during which
she obtained her insurance license and worked with her husband, Dave,
at his Shelter Insurance office.
Kristin brings more than 20 years of CRE experience to our retail team,
representing high-profile landlords and properties, along with bringing
countless new national retailers and restaurants to the St Louis market.