“Safe. Vibrant. Beautiful.” City of St. Louis and GSL Work Together to Advance Downtown Revitalization, City Social Brings 2,000 to Downtown St. Louis, and More
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“Safe. Vibrant. Beautiful.” City of St. Louis and GSL Work Together to Advance Downtown Revitalization
At a press conference last Friday, leaders from the City of St. Louis and the metro’s business community — including Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. and Mike Konzen of PGAV, a GSL Founding Investor and member of GSL’s Downtown Advisory Board — came together to announce the establishment of a public-private partnership that will focus on accelerating the work needed to revitalize the heart of the metro.
Restoring the core of St. Louis, particularly Downtown, is a strategic priority called out in the STL 2030 Jobs Plan, which notes that “if the metro is to prosper, the core of the St. Louis metro must become a magnet for innovation, employment density, and population growth.”
"We are making and seeing progress and the business community will continue our collaborative work with the city to make Downtown the world-class neighborhood at the heart of our world-class metro,” said Hall. “We also need to recognize that the complex challenges we confront in Downtown developed over decades, and they will not be fixed overnight. This will take hard, intentional, and focused collaboration."
Washington Avenue in Downtown St. Louis lit up last Friday night during City Social, the third annual block party hosted by GSL in partnership with the City of St. Louis. An estimated 2,000 guests danced to music from St. Louis artists, enjoyed food from Downtown restaurants, and enjoyed a safe, successful activation.
GSL, SLDC Showcase Downtown Retail Opportunities at Global Conference
GSL joined St. Louis Development Corporation this week to represent Downtown St. Louis at ICSC Las Vegas, a global convention driving innovation in spaces where consumers shop, dine, work, play, and gather. The public-private partnership intends to show to the world the momentum taking place Downtown and create opportunities to attract new retail to the neighborhood.
St. Louis-based Lion Forge Entertainment continues to make a name for itself while highlighting St. Louis’ culture and creativity. The studio, owned by GSL Board Member David Steward II, will produce a series of live-action feature films based on best-selling young adult saga “Best Wishes.” Launched in 2019, the Academy Award-winning STLMade animation studio is one of the only Black-owned animation studios in the world.
Big Muddy Dance Company announced this week big growth plans and a new name, committing itself fully for and in St. Louis as Saint Louis Dance Theatre. “If we’re going to be moving in a certain way, how we identify needs to land right away,” says artistic director Kirven Douthit-Boyd. “It’s about civic pride. There is something so special about the arts ecosystem here in St. Louis. For me, plugging in in this way and elevating us to this level rounds out the ecosystem.”
Winning STL: Operation Food Search Banks on Community Support
In a recent edition of Winning STL, the video series from Greater St. Louis, Inc. Chair’s Council Member the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Publisher Ian Caso talks to Carlton Adams about the work his organization is doing to tackle food insecurity in the St. Louis metro. Adams is Chief Operating Officer of Operation Food Search, a GSL Investor Council Member, which provides food and services to 200,000 people across Missouri and Illinois each month.
“Food banking and food distribution staves off hunger, but it doesn’t cure the issues around food insecurity,” Adams said. “We can’t get rid of it, not right now, but we all have to collectively in the community work toward that.”
In partnership with Capital Innovators, Cortex Innovation District — a GSL Investor Council member — has received a grant from the Missouri Technology Corporation to stand up Venture-Ready Missouri. The two-part pilot course will help early-stage Missouri startups improve their ability to secure venture funding.
Green House Ventures Growing Future Plant Scientists
St. Louis nonprofit Green House Venture is cultivating St. Louis’ plant scientists — starting in elementary school. “Our goal is to excite elementary students so that they become interested in science, biotech, and other initiatives and create a pipeline of future plant scientists to sustain the region’s biotech industry,” said Tom Purcell, President of the organization’s board of directors.
Taylor Geospatial Institute Hosts Inaugural Town Hall
The Taylor Geospatial Institute today hosted its first ever Town Hall at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a GSL Investor Council Member, bringing together researchers, government and industry partners, and the geospatial community. Attendees learned how TGI, a consortium of eight academic and research universities, is changing the landscape of geospatial through research and technology.
Katz: St. Louis in the Next Wave of Innovation Districts
Ten years ago, Bruce Katz, architect of the STL 2030 Jobs Plan, wrote “The Rise of Innovation Districts,” which asserted that the geography of modern innovation was trending toward multi-faceted districts, calling out successes in St. Louis to prove his point; a decade later, he sees efforts in St. Louis as part of a new wave of innovation districts, ready to meet the needs of an ever-changing and demanding world.
Alton, Illinois, will get its first new residential units in 20 years, as AltonWorks brings to life its next big renovation project. Lucas Row, a development with 12 new apartments and street-level retail stores, will build on AltonWorks’ efforts to revitalize downtown Alton.
The East-West Gateway Council of Governments has established the Save Lives Now! Initiative to reduce homicides and shootings in the St. Louis metro by 20% over three years. The organization is looking for a director of its related Save Lives Now! Anti-Violence Initiative, a role that will help shape public safety throughout the region.
