Today, Cortex will announce the next major phase of the redevelopment of 200 acres in St. Louis City’s central corridor. Located between the Washington University in St. Louis and BJC Healthcare campus and Saint Louis University, the technology and innovation district is home to more than 4,000 jobs and 250 companies.

While future phases have been expected for some time, this is the first confirmed expansion since the announcement of the TechShop building in 2014. The $170M Phase 3 could add nearly 1,000 additional jobs to the district. Images made available today present contemporary mid-rise infill, while previous speculation envisioned a high-rise hotel and residential addition.

Approximately 200 apartments will wrap a five-story, 1,000-car parking garage with first floor retail constructed north of Duncan Avenue. The residential component is being development Antheus Capital and Silliman Group, the same developers exploring options for a residential tower at West Pine and Kingshighway in the city’s Central West End.

{nearly 200 apartments will wrap a 1,000-space shared parking garage}

{150-room Aloft hotel and adjoining restaurant}

The new building immediately to the east of 4240 Duncan will total 180K sf and be developed by Wexford (top image). Long reported to count Microsoft as a future tenant, no confirmation is expected as part of today’s planned announcement.Venture Cafe, depicted in previous images as moving into a new space on the north side of Duncan Avenue, is now planned to have a home in this building.

Venture Cafe, depicted in previous images as moving into a new space on the north side of Duncan Avenue, is now planned to have a home in this building. The organization hosts an every-Thursday gathering that attracts nearly 500 attendees. A 150-room Aloft hotel will be constructed immediately east of the TechShop building.

While a definite construction timeline has not been shared, it is expected the project will get underway in early 2017. A subsidy request for the development have yet to be made. Tax increment financing (TIF ) of $168M has been authorized for the Cortex district. Today’s announcement does not include plans for Koman Group’s recently purchased 3.3 acres within Cortex. Cortex Phase 3 appears to cover very roughly 1/5th of the remaining developable land within Cortex itself, without any additional demolition.

*this story will be updated with additional information

Previous images of Cortex Phase 3: