A CASE STUDY IN SUCCESS CORTEX INNOVATION COMMUNITY

HOW AN IDEA BLOSSOMED INTO ONE OF THE MIDWEST’S LARGEST INNOVATION HUBS AND BECAME MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.

A little over two decades ago, a blighted 200-acre industrial district on the southern edge of Midtown St. Louis was populated with abandoned and deteriorating buildings reminiscent of many distressed neighborhoods in post-industrial cities.

But then Dr. William Danforth, retired chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, set out to establish St. Louis as a national life sciences research hub and economic engine, envisioning an innovation district on par with the thriving Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Soon after that, in 2002, St. Louis civic, institutional and business leaders came together in an act of unprecedented collaboration to found Cortex (Center of Research Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange).

Today, that swath of neglected land is now bringing the anchor institutions —and hundreds of smaller organizations – together in a vibrant, mixed-use innovation community just four miles west of the downtown core. Since rebranded as the Cortex Innovation Community it has expanded in scope to welcome all sorts of startups and tech enterprises.

Over the past two decades, HOK’s planning and design teams have helped transform Cortex from a life and plant sciences district into an entrepreneuriallycharged, live-work-play-learn community. In addition to early conceptual master planning efforts and ongoing development and parking master plan studies, HOK has completed several architectural and interiors projects. Our goal has been to create “econic” (economically iconic) facilities that meet market proformas while being clever, inviting and transformative.

2 million

HOK has designed over 2 million sq. ft. of space for start ups in Cortex

425

Cortex is home to over

425 companies

20 years

Cortex is nearly 20 years into a 30 year development plan