Inside $250M new office tower development in St. Louis (Photos)

The newest office building in St. Louis is up and running, one of a pair of new office towers that began construction during the pandemic.

Before officially opening to its first tenant in March, the $250 million Forsyth Pointe development, at the intersection of Forsyth and Brentwood boulevards in Clayton, was in the works by developer U.S. Capital Development for more than a decade, said Scott Haley, managing director of the company.

The overall 1 million-square-foot development consists of two glass office towers: the Commerce Bank Tower now owned by Commerce Bank and the building known as Forsyth Pointe that is owned by U.S. Capital Development. They were built at what the developer calls Clayton's most prominent intersection, in the central business district near Shaw Park.

The 14-story Forsyth Pointe building, at 8027 Forsyth Blvd., is nearly fully leased to tenants that include investment firm ElmTree Funds, wealth management firm Northern Trust and financial services company UBS. Barry-Wehmiller Cos., a global supplier of manufacturing technology and services, has moved some employees from its original office building across the street into its new office at Forsyth Pointe..

Since Barry-Wehmiller was such an early signee to the project, the two stories it occupies at Forsyth Pointe were custom designed with a connecting inner staircase, Haley said.

The Business Journal previously reported that Ferguson-based Emerson Electric was looking at space at Forsyth Pointe.

Scroll through the gallery below to see inside Forsyth Pointe.

Commerce Bank Tower at 8001 Forsyth Blvd., a 10-story office building on top of a seven-story parking garage, is occupied by law firm Husch Blackwell, which moved into five floors in March, and Commerce Bank, slated to move in this month.

The towers are nearly identical in design on the outside and most of the inside, except for individual offices custom designed for tenants. The parking garage forms the base of the two buildings, and both buildings share the seventh-floor terrace garden that adds an acre of green space between the two buildings. A fitness center and event space by the terrace overlook the park, which has putting greens, a fire pit and custom benches.

After working on the project for more than a decade, Haley said seeing the building completed had more of an effect on him than other developments, just by the nature of how top of the line the amenities are.

"It's far exceeded my expectation. The designs, the terrace garden and everything else, don't hold a candle to seeing it in person," Haley said.

Both buildings have air filtration systems to increase air quality and energy-efficient thermal insulation that lowers heating and cooling costs, according to a release. The parking garage has electric vehicle charging stations.

Among features that were added to the design even before the pandemic, touchless technology means there are no buttons in the elevators, which are "destination dispatch" elevators that can go directly from the parking garage to a tenant's office floor. Multistory tenants can restrict access to certain floors for some employees if needed for security, Haley said.

Visitors to Forsyth Pointe's lobby see a video wall lining the full length of the lobby that serves as a news ticker, along with on-site security. The first floor has 13,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space available.

On the floors above, Forsyth Pointe's offices have open floor plates with no columns and 14-foot ceilings, surrounded on all sides by full-height glass curtain walls, according to the release.

"Having had a presence in the Clayton area since 1989, we are pleased to maintain that legacy with our transition to Forsyth Pointe," Kyle Chapman, president of Barry-Wehmiller, said in a statement. "We eagerly anticipated the opportunity to occupy this space since its inception and are honored to be situated in Clayton's foremost office location."

U.S. Capital has 5 million square feet of development projects currently underway across the country, said Managing Principal Scott Sachtleben.

The leasing broker for Forsyth Pointe is David Steinbach of commercial real estate firm JLL.

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