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Cortex Innovation Community, or Cortex is a vibrant innovation community serving as an inclusive economic engine for the St. Louis region. We create equitable economic impacts by leveraging high quality facilities, developing a portfolio of programmatic offerings that build knowledge and networks, and convening a collection of strategic partnerships that attract and support emerging and established companies.​ A 200-acre hub for technology and biological science research, development, and commercialization, Cortex is a main location for the city's technology startup companies. It is near
Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a Private university, private research university with its Danforth Campus, main campus in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the universi ...
's medical campus,
St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississ ...
, and
Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of ...
. Cortex officials say their master plan calls for $2.3 billion of construction, producing more than 4.5 million square feet of mixed-use development to house 13,000 jobs in technology. Cortex 3.0, a $170 million expansion, was to be complete in fall 2018.


History

In 1998,
William Henry Danforth William Henry Danforth II (April 10, 1926 – September 16, 2020) was a physician, professor of medicine, academic administrator, and philanthropist. He was chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1971 until 1995. He was the grandson ...
, former chancellor of
Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a Private university, private research university with its Danforth Campus, main campus in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the universi ...
in St. Louis, sought to help the region better build upon its strengths in medicine and plant sciences. He formed the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, now known as BioSTL, which led to the creation of the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is an independent, not-for-profit research institute dedicated to plant science located in the Creve Coeur community of Saint Louis County, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1998 by William Henry ...
. Danforth and John Dubinsky, CEO of financial consulting firm Westmoreland Associates and the eventual chairman of the Cortex board, went to
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, to study
Kendall Square Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The square itself at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charles River, north of MIT ...
, a noted innovation district, to see how the concept could be used in St. Louis. The idea was to create a district where companies could have access to talent, new technology, labs, and intellectual property. The Midtown neighborhood was selected because the founding institutions are nearby and
millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2 ...
wanted to live and work in the nearby urban areas. In 2002, Cortex was founded as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization by
Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a Private university, private research university with its Danforth Campus, main campus in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the universi ...
, BJC HealthCare (BJC), University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL),
St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississ ...
(SLU), and the
Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million s ...
. These founders contributed a total of $29 million to buy land and serve as collateral for loans: Washington University, $15 million; BJC and SLU, $5 million apiece; and UMSL, $4 million. The Cortex West Redevelopment Corporation was classified by the city under Missouri statute Chapter 353 as a master developer of the district. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay allowed Cortex to redevelop the area broadly in the "public interest" by issuing tax abatements and using
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
. Cortex hired CEO Dennis Lower, who executed a plan called Cortex 2.0 and converted the district from strictly bioscience to an open mixed-used district and added support for startup technology companies. In summer 2014,
Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-lengt ...
, the payments company set up by St. Louis natives
Jim McKelvey James Morgan McKelvey Jr. is an American billionaire businessman, who is the co-founder of Block, Inc. McKelvey was appointed as an independent director of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in January 2017. As of November 2021, his net wor ...
and
Jack Dorsey Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American Internet entrepreneur and programmer who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Inc., as well as a co-founder and the CEO and chairperson of Block, Inc., the developer of the Squa ...
, opened offices at Cortex 4240. In 2015,
Ikea IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been ...
opened in Cortex. In 2018,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
opened its first
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
headquarters in Cortex building 4220. In fall 2018, once Venture Cafe Innovation Hall opens at the 4220 Building in Cortex, 23 City Blocks Hospitality Group's restaurant and cafe, The Chocolate Pig will open. In June 2018, AON announced it would move 200 employees to the 4220 building. In March 2020,
Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with or ...
announced the construction of a new $616 million, 11 story, 609,000-square-foot
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, deve ...
research building which will sit at the eastern edge of the Medical Campus in the Cortex Innovation Community. Construction of the building is set to be finished in 2023. One of the primary companies building Cortex is Wexford, which had as of 2018 developed three properties and a total of 536,903 square feet.


Facts

* After 14 years, Cortex was credited with $500 million of investment and 3,800 technology jobs. * Installation of MetroLink light-rail station called " Cortex station". * Over 370 companies are based in Cortex. *4220 is a $53 million building that houses
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
and Innovation Hall, a 13,800-square-foot space based upon Venture Café’s District Hall in Boston. * A $25 million hotel with 129 rooms. * Phase one of a five-level parking garage started in fall 2018 for $14.7 million. *
Esri Esri (; Environmental Systems Research Institute) is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 43% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS ...
expanded its presence in St. Louis at Cortex to serve the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of nation ...
, which completing its Next NGA West campus.


Innovation centers


CET St. Louis

The Center for Emerging Technologies (CET) is developing and establishing next-generation biomedical science and other advanced technology companies.


BioGenerator

BioGenerator discovers technologies and services with potential with an academic, research, or entrepreneur to make a company. In 2018, BioGenerator officials announced they will anchor the new Cortex biotech building.


CIC St. Louis

Cambridge Innovation Center provides services for startups and companies including innovation spaces and
coworking Coworking is an arrangement in which workers for different companies share an office space. It allows cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities and receptionist and custodial services, an ...
. CIC supports innovation in public relations, law, education, technology and life sciences.


Venture Cafe St. Louis

Venture Café St. Louis is a nonprofit hosting community-focused events and programs that support early-stage entrepreneurs.


COLLAB

In May 2019, Washington University in St. Louis and
Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississ ...
launched the COLLAB at Cortex. The universities intend to use the 7,700-square-foot suite for various joint and separate projects, including training students in cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, and other high-demand fields. COLLAB is also intended to forge deals with industry to turn research discoveries into products; find or train technology workers; and pursue geospatial research, data science, and health informatics.


See also

* Cambridge Innovation Center * Venture Café


References


External links

* * {{Twitter, cortexstl, Official account High-technology business districts in the United States Economy of Missouri Planned municipal developments Urban design Central business districts Entrepreneurship organizations Non-profit corporations Community building Companies based in St. Louis Organizations based in St. Louis Non-profit organizations based in St. Louis