Dive Brief:
- Construction is underway for healthcare provider Centene Corporation's new $770 million office campus expansion in Clayton, MO, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- The HOK-designed project — under contractor Clayco — will come in two phases, the first of which will include a 600,000-square-foot office tower, a 550,000-square-foot parking garage and retail space. When the entire project is complete, it will also feature an additional office tower, residential and hotel space, as well as an auditorium, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.
- The project has drawn fire from critics who object to Centene requesting financial assistance for the expansion from the city of Clayton. The company will receive tax breaks from the city in the amount of $75.6 million, as well as $6.6 million from the Missouri Works program.
Dive Insight:
Other large companies like Centene have decided to integrate live, work and play components into their office campus projects as well. Although the first phase of Under Armour's $5 billion Port Covington project will focus on construction of the company's new headquarters, the final product will include residential, commercial and other components found in mixed-use developments. And like Clayton, the city of Baltimore has sweetened the deal by approving a $660 million bond deal in September that will help finance the necessary infrastructure improvements for the project.
While most office expansions don't include a residential element, apartments and condominiums are often found in those projects meant to draw in corporate tenants. For example, construction started last week on the $430 million Fifth + Broadway mixed-use development in Nashville, which is the largest such project in the city and one of the biggest in the state. When complete, Fifth + Broadway will feature a 34-story residential tower with 350 apartments, as well as a 24-story Class A office tower and 235,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space.
Another developer, Arizona-based Cardon Development Group, also announced last week that it was in the planning stages for a $225 million riverfront mixed-use project in St. Paul, MN. If the project comes to fruition, the three-building campus would include a 200-room luxury hotel, 300 apartments, 60,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail.