Esri Joins Maxar, General Dynamics, Bae Systems, T-Kartor, and Others in Globe Building in St. Louis’ New Innovation District
St. Louis’ Geospatial Ecosystem continues to blossom as Esri has recently moved to The Globe Building. Esri joins MAXAR, T-Kartor, BAE Systems, General Dynamics IT, and Westway Services Group at this key anchor of St. Louis’ newest innovation district, the 18-square block Downtown North Insight District. Located several blocks from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) new $1.75-billion, 1-million square foot, 100-acre new headquarters employing 3,100 employees, the Downtown North Insight District also includes the largest, ICD-705 compliant, multi-tenant secure facility outside of the D.C. area. In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Patty Mims, Corporate Director, Global National Government at Esri commented saying, “There is really no place in the US or the world that has the enthusiasm, dedication and interest in developing a Geospatial Community than St. Louis.” She concluded in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch interview saying, “A lot of synergy is coming together in The Globe Building.” The Globe Building, along with the other District anchors The Post Building, the T-Rex Incubator, and NGA’s Moon Shot Labs, combine to underscore St. Louis’ aspirations to become a Global GEOINT Hub and to capture its share of this rapidly expanding sector — which Fortune Business Insights projects “to grow from USD $89.81-billion in 2024 to $262.73-billion by 2032.”
Regarding competitive advantages offered by St. Louis, Keith Masback, former CEO of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and now Principal Consultant at Plum Run, LLC, observed: “There is a ‘secret weapon’ that St. Louis can and must fully bring to bear — a 75,000 SF multi-tenant secure compartmented information facility, or SCIF, located on a full floor of The Globe Building, it is the only facility of its type outside of the Washington, D.C. metro area.” “The unique multi-tenant SCIF model means that Westway provides the upfront capital and manages ongoing operations of the SCIF, while offering tailored solutions to both large corporations and small firms alike. While it is prohibitively costly in terms of both money and time for most small and medium businesses to build and operate their own SCIFs, the multi-tenant model significantly lowers the barrier to entry with its turnkey service…” “…It’s a huge competitive differentiator for the city and region.”
Full Op Editorial: “St. Louis Has a Secret Weapon”
The adaptively-renovated 720,000 SF Globe Building contains a unique array of technology infrastructure advantages, which has made the Globe the “location of choice” for GEOINT firms, Data Centers, and other high-tech enterprises.
Previously serving as one of St. Louis’ two original railroad stations, the Globe Building’s unique technology infrastructure has made it an ideal location for tech firms seeking location downtown. The owners of The Globe Building have undertaken a remarkable high-tech transformation of this landmark Art Deco property. They describe the newly renovated Globe Building as offering "Big Space, Big Power, and Big Fiber."
“The Globe Building’s roots have made it an attractive location for data centers, geospatial intelligence firms, innovative tech enterprise, as well as a new 75,000 SF multi-tenant SCIF,” stated Geospatial World Magazine. From the mid-1990s to today, the Globe has become a preferred location for data centers, creative agencies, video production firms, Geospatial Intelligence and other tech firms. They all benefit by connection to a hub that includes data centers with extensive access to redundant power, efficient data transfer, and secure storage. Complementing these assets, Westway Services recently developed an ICD-705 complaint, 75,000 SF multi-tenant secured facility with The Globe Building. It is the largest of such facilities outside the Washington, D.C. area.
Further highlighting the significance of this facility to St. Louis, Sanjay Kumar, Editor-in-Chief of Geospatial World Magazine, noted in this publication that the new secure facility “at The Globe Building is the first of its kind outside the National Capital Region and underscores the importance of the emergence of St. Louis as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Hub.” Robert Cardillo, the former NGA Director, now Chairman of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), underscored the significance of this addition to St. Louis’ GEOINT infrastructure when he called it to the attention of the 4,000+ participants in his Main Stage opening remarks at a recent USGIF Annual GEOINT Symposium.
Moreover, The Globe has joined by the dramatic renovation of the 271,000 SF former St. Louis Post-Dispatch HQ (home of Square/BLOCK and other tech firms), and the T-Rex Incubator, containing NGA’s Moon Shot Labs. In addition to these diverse business and governmental assets, the recently-established Taylor Geospatial Initiative (TGI), headed by international GEOINT leader Dr. Nadine Alameh, is the first of its kind 8-university Geospatial Partnership, led by St. Louis University; TGI is designed to fuel research, collaborate and impact.
To learn more about all of these St. Louis’ emerging Global Geospatial Intelligence Hub assets, or to get more information on St. Louis GEOINT initiatives, e-mail me at: richardcdfleming@gmail.com.
Click here to read this article in Geospatial World Magazine.