Forsyth Pointe reinvigorates bustling St. Louis submarket

A redevelopment vision years in the making

The northeast corner of Brentwood and Forsyth sits one of St. Louis’ most premier intersections, overlooking the scenic 30-acre Shaw Park in Clayton, Missouri—a bustling suburb to the west of Metro St. Louis. Dating back to the late 90s, U.S. Capital Development (USCD) began acquiring several parcels of land within the block, partnering with other entities who had shared interest in redeveloping the block into a unique office development.

“The vision always centered around taking advantage of the park and the forever views of greenery,” said Scott Haley, Director of Development at U.S. Capital Development. “From our perspective, the most practical use of [these parcels] would be primarily for office, and then we could incorporate other components – retail and amenities – to set this corner apart.”

Forsyth Pointe, a 220,000-square-foot Class A office building, began conceptualization and broke ground in 2020. It would ultimately serve as a focal point to a larger mixed-use redevelopment in Clayton, complete with office, retail, and civic amenities.

Haley narrows in on three key components that drove their vision for a new office development:

1. Build something unique to the region
2. Focus on health and wellbeing
3. Incorporate state-of-the-art amenities

Speculative office construction is a rare occurrence in the St. Louis market, says David Steinbach, Managing Director at JLL. But beginning construction without an anchor tenant signed is even rarer. Given their connections and relationships in the market, USCD tapped JLL to market and lease the property.

Positioning Forsyth Pointe through uncertain times

Constructing a new office building at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic created both a challenge and a unique opportunity for developers and JLL to position Forsyth Pointe during a time when many tenants were not conducting work in a physical office space.

“The opportunity was trying to help companies understand how, exactly, they were going to do business in the future,” said Haley.

Forsyth Pointe would quickly become the top asset in the region, but it was a core component of the marketing and leasing strategy to develop just as compelling of a brand to match the owner’s vision, said Steinbach.

JLL worked alongside USCD to put their vision to paper, leveraging JLL’s in-house creative team and various marketing technology to build the Forsyth Pointe brand and tell the story of the property. Interactive, digital floor plans and maps, property videos, and custom branding were critical components when bringing the property to the public eye. Having a strong position for the property helped prospective tenants visualize what could be.

“The pandemic got companies strategically thinking about how they’re going to operate and what kind of space they want to occupy,” says Steinbach. “We were able to show them if you do it the right way, they may ultimately pay less in real estate expenses for higher quality space.”

It helps, too, that many of the features and components that tenants were looking for in a new workspace were already woven into Forsyth Pointe’s plans well before the pandemic, due to USCD’s keen focus on health, wellness, and creating a differentiating experience.

Closing the deal

JLL secured several high-profile tenants, notably manufacturing technology company, Barry-Wehmiller—one of the first tenants to lease at the building—and Emerson Electric, which established naming rights to the building.

Kyle Chapman, President at Barry-Wehmiller, saw an opportunity in which their leases at two other Clayton-area office buildings were approaching expiration, which aligned with the expected delivery of Forsyth Pointe.

Leasing at Forsyth Pointe allowed Chapman and his team to create a campus-like effect for their employees, enabling stronger connectivity by bringing employees from two different locations to one place across from the company’s headquarters.

“We wanted to create spaces for team members to engage with each other where people are having casual conversations,” says Chapman. “We have 39 different collaboration spaces between the two floors we lease [at Forsyth Pointe] that invite people to come together and interact.”

The experiential building amenities have been a driver for new leases. Given USCD’s three core focus areas, they incorporated the following features and amenities:

• An 85-foot-long digital art wall in the main lobby
• An elevated garden terrace overlooking Shaw Park with walking paths, seating, and fire nooks
• A state-of-the-art fitness center and juice bar
• Touchless technology for bathroom doors and building elevators
• Modern air filtration systems and efficient elevator dispatching systems

“The whole building is an experience,” said Chapman.

Today, Forsyth Pointe is 100% leased with tenants across varying industries, including manufacturing, technology, and financial services.