ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) – The former St. Louis Post-Dispatch building on North Tucker is drawing a growing list of technology companies and nonprofits, positioning downtown St. Louis as an emerging hub for geospatial, defense tech and cybersecurity industries.
The eight-floor building has around 160,000 square feet of rentable space, along with large event and conference areas, including a hall that can accommodate 800 people. Claire Anderson, the building’s business development manager and a former Post-Dispatch employee, said the space is designed to function as a connector for people and industries.
“We want to be a conduit for people and information, just like the newspaper was,” Anderson said.
A new chapter for the building
The building originally belonged to the Globe Democrat newspaper until 1959, when Joseph Pulitzer III purchased it as the new headquarters for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When the newspaper relocated in 2020, Jim McKelvey bought the building as offices for Block, Inc., preserving much of the paper’s character and history.
Current tenants include Block, Inc., local design firm Cartel, Congressman Wesley Bell’s office, and several smaller geospatial and tech companies and nonprofits. Scale AI, which works with geospatial data and image recognition for the Department of Defense, expanded into the building last fall.
AJ Segal, who runs Scale AI’s St. Louis office — which employs more than 250 people — said the building’s growing tenant base creates a collaborative ecosystem.
“I think what’s really possible here is to have a defense tech or AI collaborative environment, something similar to what they have in Silicon Valley,” Segal said. “By being in close proximity together you have to collaborate. When someone has a good idea you aren’t going on a Zoom call. You’re going two floors down to a company who’s maybe in the same stage you are.”
Cybersecurity training and workforce development
Also among the building’s new tenants is Cyber-Up, a local nonprofit that helps bridge skills and training gaps for people entering IT and cybersecurity jobs. The organization recently moved into offices at the building.
Tony Bryan, who runs Cyber-Up, said the nonprofit’s mission is to connect nontraditional students with career pathways in technology.
“The mission is to ignite curiosity in students, offer pathways for individuals and show companies how those pathways can be reimagined with nontraditional students,” Bryan said.
One recent graduate of the program is Cassandra Britt, a single mother in her 30s working a full-time job. She earned a cybersecurity certification through Cyber-Up that she said could lead to a promotion or a new career opportunity.
“It’s a good opportunity for me to grow my career and impact my life differently,” Britt said.
Downtown vacancy and the push to rebound
Downtown St. Louis continues to face challenges. According to Cushman and Wakefield, the downtown office vacancy rate stands at 28 percent. Bryan said the mayor’s public push for companies to return to the downtown corridor has generated momentum.
“Seeing the mayor challenge companies to get back into the downtown corridor and say, ‘We have to spend money and be here in person,’ created excitement for the environment and we want to be part of that,” Bryan said.
Bryan also cited public safety as a foundational concern for downtown’s recovery.
“Being safe downtown is a top priority for folks, whether it’s for a Cardinals game or a Blues or a sporting game, like I can leave my car and not worry about it. We have to start with that fundamental thing,” he said.
Anderson said the region’s affordability and quality of life are selling points for companies considering St. Louis over other Midwest cities.
“When companies look here and say, ‘Why should I come here versus Kansas City or Omaha,’ we want to show that it can pay off for you and for your personal life as well,” Anderson said.
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