NEW $1.75 BILLION NGA - ST. LOUIS: "A CENTER CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GAME CHANGER FOR ST. LOUIS”
The new 97-acre NGA - St. Louis in St. Louis' center city is the largest federal investment in St. Louis history.
In economic development, it doesn’t get much better for a community than to have the opening of a $1.75 billion, 97-acre, 700,000 square foot new federal HQ, which will house over 3,000 employees.
That is precisely what is taking place this Friday, September 26, with the official opening of thIS new federal facility in center city St. Louis of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
NGA - St. Louis is the product of a multi-year Site Selection Competition back in 2016, and nearly a decade of planning, design, and construction of this complex high-technology facility.
Robert Cardillo, Former NGA Director (who oversaw the Site Selection back in 2016), is now Board Chair of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) and the Taylor Geospatial Institute spoke to the NGA’s unique technology advantages and capabilities: “The new NGA St. Louis campus will be a first-of-its-kind in the U.S. intelligence community.”
Robert Cardillo Photo: Axios Visuals and Planet Labs PBC.
With regard to the unique technology and locational advantages of NGA’s new St. Louis HQ, Cardillo observed, "St. Louis has proudly responded to the national security demand signal for more than 200 years. From the Age of Discovery to the new NGA campus, St. Louis continues to step up and deliver in ways that could not (and should not) be done from DC."
Several blocks from NGA’s new HQ, St. Louis’ newest Innovation District — the 18-square block Downtown North Insight District includes an evolving ecosystem with its proximity to the new NGA St. Louis Headquarters, make it a virtual “Defense Tech Innovation Hub" and the emerging
St. Louis' newest Innovation District, Downtown North, is several blocks from NGA's new Headquarters.
St. Louis' newest Innovation District, Downtown North, is several blocks from NGA's new Headquarters.
Downtown North District: An Urban Insight District at the Heart of America
https://www.downtownnorthstl.com/
Apropos of this growing economic development opportunity, U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R, MO) and John Hickenlooper (D, CO) have sponsored bipartisan legislation the, Defense Technology Hubs Act, to spur defense innovation and investment across 10 regions, like St. Louis and Denver, to modernize the nation’s defense innovation base, and create good-paying jobs across the Heartland.
The combination of NGA’s new HQ in center city St. Louis, and the Downtown North District, constitute a ready-made “physical center of gravity” for St. Louis becoming a Global Leader in Geospatial Intelligence --offering downtown St. Louis a unique “window of opportunity” to significantly expand investment, attracting and expanding companies, and net new jobs in Geospatial and FinTech companies, Defense Contractors, Data Centers, and other tech-oriented economic and entrepreneurial development.
Keith Masback, Principal Consultant at PLUM RUN, LLC and former NGA Senior Executive and former CEO of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF).
With regard to St. Louis’ GEOINT competitive advantage, geospatial leader Keith Masback has observed: “There is a ‘secret weapon’ that St. Louis can and must fully bring to bear --- a 75,000 SF multi-tenant secure compartmentalized information facility, or SCIF, located on a full floor of The Globe Building. It is the only facility of its type outside the Washington, D.C. metro area.”
In the St. Louis Business Journal, he concluded, “It’s a huge competitive differentiator for the City and the region.”
Global tech leader Esri located, and has expanded, its St. Louis operations to The Globe Building in Downtown North.
In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio announcing Esri’s move to The Globe Building in the Downtown North District, Esri Director for National Government Patty Mims noted, “there is really no place in the U.S., or the world, that has the enthusiasm, dedication, and interest in developing a Geospatial community than St. Louis.”
The Downtown North District is helping St. Louis to map a new future in Defense, GEOINT, and other tech development.
The Downtown North ecosystem is composed of several major anchor institutions, and the District is emerging as the "Geospatial Center of Gravity in St. Louis."
These key anchors are: The Globe Building (including the multi-tenant SCIF); The Post Building; the T-Rex Incubator; and the recently created Washington Avenue Community Improvement District.
The Globe Building combines both classified and companion unclassified workspace for defense contractor firms, which spaces are powered by 150,000 SF of hardened carrier-class data centers. The Globe Building combines both classified and companion unclassified workspace for defense contractor firms, which spaces are powered by 150,000 SF of hardened carrier-class data centers.
The Globe combines both classified and companion unclassified workspace for defense contractor firms , which spaces are powered by 150,000 SF of hardened carrier-class data centers.
The Globe Building and Multi-Tenant SCIF
For secure operational continuity, The Globe offers high-tech unclassified companion workspaces and amenities, indoor parking, and 150,000 SF of hardened carrier class data centers with surplus power and redundant fiber connectivity—enabling users to run AI models, store mission data, and support high-performance applications adjacent to secure, accredited, operations—a vertically integrated innovation stack for the defense sector. All the mission-ready capability, at scale, under one roof:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DOMjWNZQo
The Globe Building combines both classified and companion unclassified workspace for defense contractor firms, which spaces are powered by 150,000 SF of hardened carrier-class data centers.
The Globe already hosts a tenant community of geospatial, defense, and advanced manufacturing companies including General Dynamics, Esri, Maxar, T-Kartor, BAE Systems, Westway Services, and Stereotaxis.
The Post Building is strategically located at the heart of the Downtown North Insight District.
The Post Building
The historic Post Building is strategically located at the heart of the Downtown North Insight District, the epicenter of St. Louis’ growing fintech, GEOINT and entrepreneurial ecosystem. geospatial, fintech and venture capital ecosystem. The Post's proximity to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is a strategic unclassified location that can be customized to growth stage companies.
The Post recently recruited global AI leader, Scale AI, to locate their St. Louis home, along with FinTech pioneer BLOCK (formerly Square, which was Co-Founded by Post co- developer, Jim McKelvey).
Provides 271,000 square feet of contemporary office & community gathering spaces, with top-tier amenities for attracting, recruiting and retaining a world class workforce.
The T-REX Incubator serves GEOINT start ups and is also the home of NGA's MoonShot Labs.
T-REX Incubator and NGA Moonshot Labs
The T-REX Incubator is a non-profit innovation and entrepreneur development center dedicated to strengthening the economic vitality of St. Louis, one startup at a time.
A coworking space, technology incubator, and entrepreneur resource center, T-Rex offers an ecosystem where ideas are conceived, brought to fruition, and given room to grow. It is the home to a growing community of well over 400 founders, developers, designers, mentors, educators & more, including the NGA’s Moonshot Labs.
The recently created Washington Avenue Community Improvement Corridor District (CID) was created to serve as a formal structure in tandem with the collaboration in the Downtown North District.
Washington Avenue Corridor Community Improvement District
The Washington Avenue CID is a community improvement district created by Downtown North stakeholders to catalyze the redevelopment of the Washington Avenue Corridor into one of the great streets in the country.
With a focus on enhancing Washington Avenue security, infrastructure, placemaking, and economic development, the Wash. Ave. CID is taking the lead to ensure that the public realm on Washington Avenue and in the corridor generally matches the quality and character of the private investment in Downtown North.
St. Louis Civic Strategy
The region's civic community has developed as set of strategies, Mapping the Future for St. Louis fulfilling its potential as a "Global Geospatial Intelligence and Defense Tech Hub" -
Scale up Geospatial Workforce Capacity
Raise Innovation Capacity
Accelerate Risk Capital and Entrepreneurship
Support Neighborhood Development, Especially in North St. Louis
Make St. Louis a Global Thought Leader in Geospatial Technology
NGA Director, Vice Admiral Whitworth keynotes USGIF 2025 annual symposium in St. Louis.
Congratulations to NGA, the Corps of Engineers, and the McCarthy construction team.
The near decade of planning and development of NGA’s new St. Louis HQ has taken place through the stewardship of NGA Directors Robert Cardillo (2014-2019); Vice Admiral Robert Sharp (2019-2022); and Vice Admiral Frank D. Whitworth III (2022-2025).
