TechArtista, the St. Louis-based coworking company, recently signed a lease agreement to open a new location at Gateway South, the forthcoming $1.2 billion, 100-acre riverfront development located south of the Poplar Street Bridge.
Inside the former Crunden-Martin Manufacturing Company complex, the coworking space will occupy 30,000 square feet. An additional 10,000 square feet will be dedicated to event space. TechArtista, which currently has approximately 1,000 members across three locations around the region, will serve as a cornerstone of the 500,000-square-foot complex that will offer not just coworking but also retail and production facilities, among other amenities.
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“We can really attempt to do some bigger, more impactful things that are hopefully more accessible to the public and not just our community directly,” TechArtista CEO Christopher Holt says. “The things that our members are doing are amazingly impressive. There are a number of people in our community that have ideas and programs that they’re looking to develop themselves that we can facilitate through a larger district.”
Holt attended Washington University with Good Developments Group founder and managing partner Greg Gleicher, whose company is leading the Gateway South project. Gleicher’s vision is to attract innovative companies within the construction and design sector and turn St. Louis into a hub for the built environment. That sector, despite being one of the biggest industries in the world, currently lacks such a hub, Gleicher says, and a location on the St. Louis riverfront would harken back to the golden age of St. Louis manufacturing and production.
Think of it this way: what Cortex is to biotech innovation and what 39 North is to agtech, Gateway South would be to building technology—connecting major players in building construction and design, and additive manufacturing.
“There’s a unique value proposition in St. Louis,” Gleicher says.
Given TechArtista’s growth over the past decade, Gleicher believes Holt, who is a partner in the Gateway South project, can help build the community he’s aiming to attract. In addition to offering coworking space, TechArtista also functions as connective tissue in the region’s startup scene by bringing together innovators, entrepreneurs, and companies throughout the region. “One of my core theses is that, in the real estate space, the value proposition is somewhat shifting from just being only the physical space to also including the community and additional benefits that one space provides over another,” Gleicher says.
Gateway South will be TechArtista’s fourth location, building on what the organization has done in the Central West End, University City, and downtown, where people find space to work and collaborate, and also enjoy amenities like coffee shops and cocktail bars.
“I’m very bullish on St. Louis and what I think can happen in this region,” Holt says.
What’s Next: You can expect “visible progress” at the site in the coming months, Gleicher says, with vertical construction also on track to begin this year.
