St. Louis office market overview for 2014

Moving from recovery to expansion
Office-occupying employment is back to pre-recession levels
Office-occupying employment has posted annual gains for 23 consecutive
months. As a result, the four super sectors reached all-time highs earlier this
year. The gains are even stronger when excluding government employment,
gaining 13.6 percent from the January 2010 lows, compared to 6.2 percent. In
addition, non-farm payrolls gained 20,700 jobs from the previous year. This is the
second-highest 12-month increase in non-farm payrolls since 2005. The gains
have brought the local unemployment rate to 5.4 percent, the lowest level since
December 2007.

Full JLL report:
http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/MediaResources/AM/Email/St.%20Louis/STL-Office-Insight-Q4-2014-JLL.pdf

How do Downtown St. Louis office space stats compare to other CBD's?

Downtown St. Louis has a higher total vacancy rate than any other comparison city on this list but the Class A space vacancy is lower on average than any other.  Not all cities broke down total numbers and Class A numbers.  Many Class B and C office buildings have or are in the process of being converted to residential buildings.  No other comparison city has a second CBD the size of Clayton, which certainly affects the downtown stats.  Owner/occupied buildings such as AT&T, Purina and Wells Fargo are not tracked in these figures.

Source: CBRE

City (CBD)	Vacancy		Inventory (square feet)	Average Asking Rent	Asking Rent Class A only	Total Absorption (SF) 2014 YTD
	Total	Class A
St. Louis	26.50%	11.80%	14,194,676	$15.22	$18.08	93,532
Cincinnati	20.30%		12,925,157	$20.79		98,266
Dallas	23.70%		29,415,642	$21.13		541,311
Denver	12.70%		25,627,875	$30.94		98,411
Indianapolis	19.10%	17.10%	11,944,526	$18.22	$19.51	24,448
Kansas City	22.40%	22.50%	14,911,631	$16.71	$18.45	108,980
Minneapolis	15.10%	11.90%	24,126,861	$14.42	$16.39	289,447

T-REX coworking/incubator space - Downtown St. Louis

http://downtowntrex.com
Like a magnet, T-REX attracts innovation to downtown St. Louis, Missouri. A coworking space and technology incubator, we offer a blank canvas—a space where ideas are conceived and brought to fruition. We’ve worked to create an environment that serves as a network of creativity, where abstraction finds clarity amongst a collection of bright and dedicated minds. Hovering above a vivacious, animated city, we’re now home to a growing community of entrepreneurs, developers, designers, mentors, educators and more. We welcome all ambitious minds.

T-REX recently relocated from the Railway Exchange Building to the formerly named Lammert Building at 10th and Washington Avenue.  T-REX is rapidly bursting at the seams with new startup companies and is occupied by other groups such as Capital Innovators, Washington University, Arch Grants, etc. 

CIC@4240- Cambridge Innovation Center - Midtown, St. Louis

 /http://cortexstl.com/cic-st-louis-open-for-business/

From Cortex link above:
CIC@4240 is open for business! Massachusetts’ renowned Cambridge Innovation Center today opens the doors to its new facility, the first of its kind outside of its home state. Housed inside Wexford Science + Technology’s @4240, the CIC’s new space is now a part of the world-class Cortex Innovation Community, creating and managing next-generation flexible work environments for start-ups and small and mid-sized companies. Starting with about 20 founding clients, CIC expects to eventually house as many as 75 companies in its @4240 location, from entrepreneurs and growth businesses to strategic service firms and investor groups. @4240 is a LEED Platinum certified lab and research facility.

4240 Building 

Mackey Mitchell Architects Cupples 9

The architecture firm, Mackey Mitchell www.mackeymitchell.com/, recently relocated from Union Station to Cupples 9 in Downtown St. Louis.  Their space overlooks Busch Stadium and has excellent views of the arch and downtown in general.  Other firms in the building include: Osborn Barr, Asychrony Solutions, Yurbuds.

St. Louis Arch Grants Gala - Please join and help grow STL businesses!

There is no better way to contribute to the entrepreneurial spirit and business growth in St. Louis than by contributing to Arch Grants.  Please join the Arch Grants Gala: Saturday, October 11, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency (formerly the Adams Mark) at The Arch. http://archgrants.org/2014-gala/

The Arch Grants global competition awards $50,000 grants to promising start-ups that re-locate or stay in St. Louis.  We have awarded $3.1 million to date and we do not take a stake in the company. Since 2012, we have funded 55 companies from applicants across the world. In the first eighteen months of our program, our entrepreneurs have created 192 jobs, generated $6.5 million in revenue, and raised $17.7 million in follow-on funding. In addition to the grant, startups receive free legal, accounting, marketing, and mentoring support through extensive partnering with local organizations. 

St. Louis is #2 in the U.S. in ease of starting a new business:

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2014/08/st-louis-no-2-in-ease-of-starting-new-biz-ranking.html?page=all

Manifest Digital - CORTEX - St. Louis

Manifest Digital (www.manifestdigital.com/) recently relocated to the 4220 Building in the CORTEX, east of BJC Hospital and Washington University Medical School in St. Louis.

 CORTEX www.cortexstl.com : Founded in 2002, Cortex is mid-America’s premiere hub for bioscience and technology research, development and commercialization, anchoring St. Louis’ growing ecosystem of innovative startups and established companies. Providing state-of-the-art facilities to support the nation’s most promising technological advances, Cortex offers custom lab and office space, proximity to world-class research institutions, a highly-trained tech workforce, access to venture capital…all surrounded by amenity-rich urban neighborhoods. Join the Cortex Innovation Community.

Manifest Digital leased 17,000 SF in the newly redeveloped 4220 Building, which was formerly a Southwestern Bell warehouse.

Manifest Digital:
In the lab, we're busy 'experience hacking'---our unique way of building wonderful products and telling compelling brand stories---across an increasingly fragmented digital landscape. It's where disparate talent hums under an agile and iterative approach accelerating customer engagement, channel fluidity and brand potency.

                                                                                                  4220 Building