ST. LOUIS—The metropolitan area of St. Louis has suffered a great deal from the economic crisis. But recently, some bright spots have appeared, including a decline in vacancies among modern bulk buildings. And now, St. Louis-based TriStar Properties has begun development on the first speculative industrial building to be constructed in the St. Louis metro area since 2007.

“As of the end of the third quarter, there were less than a dozen modern bulk buildings with more than 100,000-square-feet of contiguous, vacant space available on the market,” says Terrence Madlinger, research analyst for Cassidy Turley's St. Louis office. “This is impressive considering that just 18 months ago there were more than 25 of these spaces available.”

Cassidy Turley senior vice president Ed Lampitt will lead the leasing effort for the 540,000-square-foot facility at Gateway Commerce Center, a big-box industrial park at the intersection of I-270 and I-255 in Illinois just east of St. Louis. The developers will have the class A building ready for occupancy in the summer of 2014 and have the capability to expand it to more than 1-million-square-feet. The property, located in an Enterprise Zone, offers tax abatements and is part of a 600-acre parcel TriStar recently made available in Gateway Commerce Center.

“Cassidy Turley's experience with TriStar and in Gateway dates back to 2005 when the first spec building was constructed in the center,” Lampitt says. “That first building was a tremendous success, and we believe this building will have a similar positive impact for the St. Louis industrial market.”

Gateway Commerce Center contains about 10-million-square-feet of industrial space. Leading corporate tenants include Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics and Hershey.

Instant Insights /

TriStar Begins First St. Louis Spec Since 2007

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