Feature photo credit: MWM STL | Ruth Thaler-Carter
Featured renderings of Grove Ronald McDonald House, courtesy of Lawrence Group
Feature Photo – (L to R): Robert Tomaso, office managing partner, Husch Blackwell; Jason Hall, chief executive officer, Greater St. Louis; John Kemper, president and chief executive officer, Commerce Bancshares; Missouri State Senator Brian Williams; Chuck Kim, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Commerce Bank; David Kemper, executive chairman of Commerce Bancshares.
Construction of Forsyth Pointe, a mixed-use development in the central business district of Clayton, Mo., is underway.
The US Capital Development project includes two Class-A office towers, street-level retail and connected parking and will add nearly 1 million SF of prime space in the heart of Clayton, Mo.
As construction manager, McCarthy Building Companies is overseeing all construction work, including the delivery of self-perform concrete services on the cast-in-place building foundations, elevator cores and parking structure. The steel-framed glass structures will rest atop a post-tensioned concrete-framed parking structure.
“Forsyth Pointe will be a wonderful addition to the Clayton skyline and community,” said Michelle Harris, Mayor of the City of Clayton.
The 10-story, 265,000-SF east tower will occupy the corner of Forsyth Blvd. and Meramec Ave. And the 8-story, 210,000-SF west tower will reside at Brentwood Blvd. and Forsyth Blvd. More than 20,000 SF of street-level retail space will enliven the development’s street presence.
“The development will add prime office space and innovative retail space, increasing street vitality and the pedestrian experience on a prominent corner across from Shaw Park—one of our city’s crown jewels," Mayor Harris said.
A 7-level parking structure will connect both buildings and extend 2.5 levels underground. At the top level of the parking structure, a 45,000-SF open-air garden terrace will serve as a signature amenity and be available for public events.
Other planned amenities include a 10,000-SF fitness center and a ground-floor arts and entertainment venue.
“We’re honored to partner with US Capital Development and the design team to bring this incredible new development to life in one of the most desirable locations in St. Louis County,” said Jared Hites, vice president of operations at McCarthy.
From the project’s early design phase, McCarthy initiated an integrated virtual design and construction (VDC) process with the owner, designer and trade partners to drive efficiencies throughout the project. This includes the use of cloud-based building information modeling (BIM) collaboration platforms accessible by all team members.
Specific VDC applications include model-based design review, model-based field layout, 3D building systems coordination, laser scanning of as-built conditions and aerial drone photogrammetry to monitor and survey construction progress.
Forsythe Pointe is designed by Christner Architects (design architect, architect of record and landscape architect) and CEDERGREEN, LLC (design architect).
Other team members include Alper Audi (structural engineering), Stock & Associates (civil engineering), G&W Engineering (mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering) and Randy Burkett Lighting Design (lighting design).
The project is expected to be complete in summer 2022.
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/.
