Offers more available parking options in burgeoning tech district
Tarlton Corp., a St. Louis-based general contracting and construction management firm, completed a $12 million parking garage in the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis’ Central West End. The new garage is five levels and offers space for 678 vehicles.
Tarlton served as construction manager for the garage at 4217 Custom Steel Drive, adjacent to the new multi-tenant building at 4220 Duncan Ave., completed by Tarlton in 2018. For the garage, Tarlton managed the erection of 400 pieces of precast concrete, in addition to performing excavation and backfill. Tarlton Concrete self-performed the cast-in-place concrete, including 50 drilled piers and 2,000 cubic yards of grade beams, walls and slabs, as well as the installation of an elevator, pit foundation, waterproofing and miscellaneous carpentry items. Construction on the garage, from its early stages to completion, has been captured on a time-lapse video: https://vimeo.com/338090205/50371c2b04
On May 23, Cortex marked the completion of the new parking structure by hosting a grand opening “Garage Party” celebration at which more than 500 attendees enjoyed a festive evening with barbecue, beverages, live music, classic cars, arcade games, art and giveaways by party cosponsors and vendors. The construction of the parking garage in the Cortex Innovation Community marks the first phase of three parking garage projects that are planned in the district.
The Tarlton team included Andy Kovarik, project executive; Brian Gibson, project director; Michael Vemmer, project engineer; Jon Stemme, project superintendent; Laurie Howell, cost engineer; and Jason Bretz and Kevin Oakley, preconstruction. HOK was the project architect.
“The Custom Steel Drive project represents a transition from traditional surface parking in the dense, high-growth area to more structured parking,” said Tracy Hart, president, Tarlton Corp. “We are delighted it makes such a positive impact on the Cortex Innovation Community.”
In 2018, Tarlton and Cortex celebrated completion of spaces in 4220 Duncan Ave. that will benefit from the parking spaces the new garage provides, including Innovation Hall, a 13,800-square-foot networking and event space powered by Venture Café that offers free workspace and Wi-Fi, the Chocolate Pig restaurant, the Move by BJC fitness center, Cambridge Innovation Center and others.
Tarlton’s building resume in the Cortex District also includes the historic renovation of 4340 Duncan Ave., now under construction; the historic renovation of @4240 (4240 Duncan Ave.), with tenant fit-outs for Cambridge Innovation Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Boeing, Husch Blackwell and Park Avenue Coffee; a new building at 4260 Forest Park Ave. (core and shell, plus Alcami lab/office fit-out); work in the Cortex 1 building; renovations at CIC@CET; the Duncan Avenue storm sewer extension; various parking lot projects; and various projects by Tarlton HydroVac Services.
In business since 1946, Tarlton Corp. is a WBENC-Certified Women’s Business Enterprise that completes projects for wide-ranging clients in the life science, higher education, health care, commercial, power and industrial markets. Tarlton provides unparalleled preconstruction services and has special expertise in concrete construction, restoration and maintenance.
Founded in 2002 through a collaboration of Washington University in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Cortex Innovation Community (CortexSTL.com) is a nationally and internationally recognized hub of innovation and technology commercialization.