Copied from post on old website. Story originally published on November 13th.

Downtown West is poised to receive 7 major projects that will shape it's future or are currently. One is the Jefferson Arms, another is the Hyatt Place at the Municipal Courts, another is a Fashion Incubator Factory, another is a grocery store (Fields Foods) at the Monogram Building, one is the Last hotel, another is the Tire Mart Building and the last one is this nice sized development at 21st and Locust/Washington and 22nd and Locust/Washington. It's a full size block with tons of potential. The developer is Abbott Properties out of Kansas City. the company has left their mark on Kansas City's Crossroads Arts District. Most recently, Abbott Properties has unveiled plans to redevelop the last blighted building on a stretch of Kansas City's Grand Boulevard. That project calls for entertainment and office space just South of the City's bustling Downtown.

In St. Louis' case, Abbott is going big and wants to leave their mark on St. Louis, especially Downtown West. The $32 Million development dubbed "The Locust Collaboration District Center and Park", is just that, a Collaboration Development. There will be nearly 130,000SF of office space for this project, retail space and a park built at 22nd and Washington and 22nd and Locust. The park will replace an overgrown, formerly city owed, lot in Downtown West. Meanwhile, the office space will be geared towards startups and technology companies much like T-REX or Cortex hence the "collaboration" part. This particular site was once considered a location for the Downtown West Fashion Incubator Factory. The news of this development potentially means the factory will have to be moved to somewhere else in Downtown.

The LCRA has yet to review the plans and are recommending a 90% tax abatement on the properties for 10 years according to city documents. However, the buildings are not yet owned by Abbott Properties but all signs indicate to Abbott acquiring the buildings as soon as possible. Another thing included with the plan is adding another floor and rooftop deck to one of the buildings. The addition of the floor likely represents a tenant only amenity. No word on when a start date can be expected but the architecture firm is JEMA.