First phase of Parkway School District upgrades complete

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent students and staff home last spring before the scheduled end of the school year, McCarthy Building Companies identified innovative ways to streamline project schedules and save costs for clients such as the Parkway School District in St. Louis County, Mo.

Despite the numerous pandemic-related challenges, including supply chain slowdowns, newly implemented safety protocols and labor shortages, McCarthy has successfully completed the first phase of a three-year program for the district. 

The $55 million work program involves nearly every school building in the Parkway School District, which serves 17,500 students from early childhood through high school, and encompasses 18 elementary schools, 5 middle schools and 5 high schools.

Parkway selected McCarthy to oversee the bond program as construction manager at risk, a first for a school district in the St. Louis area due to Parkway’s desire to improve their outcomes from the significant taxpayer investment. 

McCarthy’s scope of work, which continues every summer through 2022, ranges from HVAC and security upgrades to classroom renovations, roof replacements and more.

“By having McCarthy on board as our construction manager, we realized a lot of flexibility and benefit we couldn’t have anticipated. With our buildings vacant since spring, McCarthy was able to get a jump start on work originally not scheduled to begin until the end of the school year in June. Having the early start turned out to be an important advantage considering supply chain challenges encountered during shutdowns,” said James Swingle, PE, group manager, facilities planning & construction, Parkway Schools.

“Fortunately, McCarthy’s extensive industry relationships and trade partnerships, combined with some creativity and ingenuity, helped keep the project on schedule and on budget.”

According to Swingle, when the closing of an overseas factory caused a 10-week delay in the expected delivery of two switchboards needed for electrical rooms, McCarthy relied on its extensive network of local trade partners to develop a solution and identify a way to make the switchboards locally.

In another instance, the manufacturer of a compressor for a rooftop heating and cooling unit agreed to install a standard compressor until the specified digital compressor became available. This creative solution added no additional cost to the district and enabled the buildings to be completed on schedule.

Work completed this summer on the $17 million first phase focused on renovations at five schools, including:

• Bellerive Elementary School: interior demolition and reconfiguration to provide acoustical separation, new ductwork branch line and lighting.

• Central Middle School: construction of a new secure entry lobby and waiting area with resource office, replacing entry drive hardscapes and landscaping, replacing and adding new high-efficiency rooftop units (RTUs), and utility upgrades.

• Hanna Woods Elementary School: extending corridor walls full height to separate classrooms from corridor prior to installing new ceilings, as well as duck work modifications and new corridor lighting.

• Southwest Middle School: construction of a new secure entry lobby and waiting area with resource center office, replacing 20 RTUs and adding 11 new heat pumps, removing and capping 32 curb-mounted skylights prior to full roof and skylight replacement, in addition to installing new entry drive hardscapes, parking lot, landscaping and minor utility upgrades. 

• Wren Hollow Elementary School: interior demolition and reconfiguration of partitions in two classrooms for acoustical separation, replacing wheelchair lifts with concrete ramps, and replacing dock area hardscapes, site steps, and playground landscaping.

“McCarthy is pleased to be working on this project for Parkway Schools which is not only located in our hometown, but is an excellent district where many of our own children attend school,” said Jared Hites, vice president, operations for McCarthy Building Companies. 

Opus chips in on the 2020 industrial market boom

The Opus Group is chipping in on the ever-expanding 2020 industrial market, this time in Earth City, Mo.

Johnstone Supply, a leader in the HVACR industry, will anchor their new headquarters and distribution center on four acres of the 13.5-acre development. Construction of their 45,000-SF space is scheduled to begin this month.

“Our team has been grateful to work with Opus throughout this process and we’re eager to see this project through to completion. Our new building allows us to expand our business, offer additional educational training courses and bring new jobs to the community," said Larry Wines with Johnstone Supply.

Upon opening, Johnstone Supply will occupy 10,000 SF for the company’s headquarters, which will include a training room and product showroom. Centralizing these facilities under one roof will allow the company to further establish its presence in the St. Louis area.

“Our team identified this location as one of the last developable sites in Earth City. Through the expertise of our integrated team and strong broker relationships, we’ve been able to work closely with St. Louis County to develop a modern industrial building that will meet the demand for local, regional and national industrial users," said Ryan Carlie, director of real estate development at Opus.

Opus also plans to begin construction this month on an 111,000-SF speculative industrial development on the remaining 9.5 acres. 

The addition will accommodate multiple tenants, offering 139 parking stalls, 32-foot clear height, 27 dock positions, including two drive-in positions, and clerestory windows. With immediate access to Interstate 70 and directly off of state Route 141, this project offers accessibility and external visibility.

Opus is the developer, design-builder, and architect and engineer of record. Jake Corrigan and Vince Bajardi with Sansone Group will be marketing the project for lease.

Construction on both buildings is expected to be complete in early 2021.

CRE project designs 'on point' for future

The evolution of commercial building design over the last few years to include more open space, rich amenities, safety and tech-driven concepts is proving to be a well-thought-out and timely choice, especially when considering the current and future demands and regulations resulting from COVID-19.

Building spaces, notably office and other shared spaces, are in the spotlight now more than ever before, prompting the focus of discussion for the St. Louis CCIM virtual meeting last week.

Tony Kennedy with Colliers International, moderated the meeting; panelists included Larry Chapman, president and CEO of Seneca Commercial Real Estate; Korey Baker, associate director of market development for Compstak; Toby Heddinghaus, president of Gray Design Group; Scott Haley, managing director of US Capital Development and Tim Gaidus, senior project designer at HOK.

“When Seneca embarked on the Edge series of buildings, the focus was on creating an environment that employees want to be a part of, which in turn, helps the companies that become our tenants compete successfully for, and to be able to retain the best and brightest talent. These designs easily adapt to the changing demands of the occupants and are highly compatible with the new COVID-19 paradigm,” said Chapman.

Edge at West Park, located just west of the I-270/Olive Blvd. interchange, provides a flexible, employee-centric environment which maximizes the building’s common areas to provide amenities critical to helping companies recruit and retain the best talent, regardless of market conditions. FM Global, a worldwide insurance company based at Maryville Centre Office Park, is set to move into the top floor of the four-story building in November.

“Edge at West and Forsyth Pointe are two of the more prominent office developments planned in St. Louis County right now. With some uncertainty in the market surrounding COVID-19, it's refreshing to see these projects advancing on schedule. I'm very confident that US Capital Development and Seneca will deliver top quality buildings to the market that adapt to the needs of the users, both in terms of the current pandemic and also their long- term ability to recruit and retain top tier talent, “ said Jim Loft, president of St. Louis CCIM and executive vice president of Gershman Commercial Real Estate.

The recently completed EDGE@BRDG (BioResearch & Development Growth) Park, an innovative 160,000 SF, four-story lab and office building on the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center campus in Creve Coeur, Mo., is now finished and its first lead tenant, Benson Hill Biosystems, one of the fastest growing leaders in the field of plant sciences, has just moved in.

Forsyth Pointe, located on Forsyth Blvd. between Brentwood Blvd. and Meramec Ave., consists of two towers totalling nearly 1million SF of space, half of which will be dedicated for office use and the other half to a 1,250-spot garage. The west tower is slated to have 202,054 SF of space across 14 floors and the east tower to have 255,114 SF of space across 16 floors, two floors of which will be for the underground parking garage. Over 24,000 SF of retail is planned.

Other forward- thinking design elements mentioned that are currently being implemented in building design include:

• Walkable environments- fresh air spaces with plenty of distance

• Wide open staircases

• Refuge areas

• Phone booths

• Huddle rooms

• Roll up (garage) doors

• Touchless automatic door opening

• Restroom doors with no handles

• Plasma filtered air

• More robust cleaning services

• Anti-microbial coatings

• Hand sanitizer stations

• Biometrics instead of touchpoint

• Robotics and automation

• Holograms/virtual reality

The next St. Louis CCIM event is scheduled for September 15th from 11:15 am - 1:00 pm at the St. Louis Club in Clayton, Mo. For more info, please visit https://ccimstl.com/events/.

9-Mile food truck garden set to bloom July third

Missouri’s first food truck garden, 9 Mile Garden, is set to open on July 3, 2020 at 9375 Gravois Rd. in Affton, Mo.

Developed by Guerrilla Street Food co-founder Brian Hardesty and Seneca Commercial Real Estate, 9 Mile Garden brings a family-focused entertainment district to the St. Louis area; offering local foods and drinks alongside outdoor movies, live music and performances, community events and more.

Previously known as Chapman Ventures, the company redeveloped Affton Plaza and began working on ideas for phase two of the project — which turned into 9 Mile Garden.

The garden plans to host five trucks for lunch, seven trucks for dinner and nine trucks for special events, according to Hardesty. The garden is also equipped with its own bar, The Canteen, who plans to serve 40 taps of local craft beer, wine, small batch cocktails, cold brew coffee, kombucha and more—all on draft.

“It’s such a cool concept and will truly be great for the area.  BEX really overcame the inclement weather challenges of late winter and early spring to get this project completed on time. That meant capitalizing on the good days we had and working overtime and weekends (to deliver on schedule),” said Ethan Bruckerhoff, superintendent for BEX Construction Services, who was responsible for the GC on the structural components of the project.

The full list of participating food trucks includes Balkan Treat Box, FarmTruk, Seoul Taco, Guerrilla Street Food, Doggie Mac’s, Sugarfire 64, Essentially Fries, Wok and Roll, The Saucy Iguana, Ukraft, Truckeria del Valle, Burgers STL, Wayno’s, Blues Fired Pizza, Spud Shack, The Crooked Boot, Honest to Goodness, Sedara Sweets, Zia’s on the Hill, Super Smokers, CJ’s Deli, Tastebudz Express, Heavy Smoke BBQ, Fire & Ice Cream Truck, Truck Norris, Scoops & More, Poptimism, Graze, Smokey’s Q, and Twisted Tacos.

Live bands will play every Friday night and a jumbo outdoor movie screen will show movies every Saturday night during warm weather months. Family-friendly games, such as pickleball and air hockey, board games and theme nights will all be included. The garden grounds and The Canteen can also be rented for private events.

The grounds of the food truck garden will open for lunch on Friday, July 3rd, and continue operating for both lunch and dinner service through the weekend. The grand-opening week will feature several live musical performances and charitable events. The garden and its staff will follow health and safety guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and St. Louis County, officials said.

GARDEN HOURS

Lunch: Mon-Sat, 11am-2pm

Dinner: Tue-Sat, 5pm-9pm

Special events every Friday & Saturday night

CANTEEN HOURS

Mon-Thu, 11am-midnight

Fri-Sat, 11am-1am

Other partners on the project include KOLB Contracting and Coralic Architecture.