ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- The newest office building being built in the Cortex district will be among the most secure in the country. That's important as St. Louis tech firms, like those in the geospatial and cybersecurity fields, increasingly deal with national secrets.
The new building will be SCIF -- or sensitive compartmented information facility -- space where classified and sensitive information can be processed.
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"It'll allow us to homegrow companies in the space, attract talent, and especially to recruit divisions of players large and small from other parts of the country to St. Louis," Cortex President Sam Fiorello tells KMOX News.
Fiorello says Virginia developer Westway Services Group will build about 300,000 square feet of secure office space, with structured secure parking, and a very unique meeting space.
"It will be one of the very few offerings like that between the coasts," Fiorello says, "so we'll be able to attract companies from between the coasts that want to come here just to have events in the secure conferencing space."
The new facility is going up in front of the grain silos at Forest Park Ave and Sarah St. It's expected to be open in late 2023.
Fiorello says the appeal of districts like Cortex is that, despite a need for highly secure space, most people don't want to work in isolation.
"What employers want to know is what's around there? Is there residential that's suited for the kind of workforce we're talking about? The Foundry, for example, being across the street is incredibly impactful. It's a cool venue. If you think about Austin, Texas and "Keep Austin Weird" and what's part of Austin's secret sauce, it's those living venues, music venues, food, so we really focus on that here in this corridor."
Westway CEO Jack Pryor said in a statement: "We are excited to enter the St. Louis community to provide secure office space that meets the growing needs of organizations in the region."
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