Author: Northside Developer

Ponce Health Sciences University Announces Plans to Build $80 million Medical School in NorthSide Regeneration Development

Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) announced plans on March 6 to build an $80 million medical school campus in the heart of M Property Services’ NorthSide Regeneration development in North St. Louis.

Medical school for N St Louis

Ponce Health Sciences University Announces Plans to Build $80 million Medical School in NorthSide Regeneration Development

Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) announced plans on March 6 to build an $80 million medical school campus in the heart of M Property Services’ NorthSide Regeneration development in North St. Louis. The school will support up to 1,200 students and create up to 120 staff and faculty positions in the St. Louis area. Construction is set to begin later this year or early 2021.

The new campus will expand PHSU’s current educational programs in St. Louis by offering a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) program and will create more opportunities for students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to access medical education and build careers in healthcare. PHSU-St. Louis was established in 2018 and currently offers accredited health science programs (a Master of Science in Medical Sciences and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology) at their facility in the historic Globe Building in Downtown St. Louis.

“We need to find ways to encourage more diverse students and more diversity in our medical education to pursue medical and healthcare degrees,” said PHSU President Dr. David Lenihan. “Our unique educational model at Ponce Health Sciences University helps students succeed in their medical studies and build meaningful careers in healthcare with good paying jobs. We see the results on our campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico where we continue to maintain excellent academic quality while providing opportunities to students who would otherwise not have been admitted to medical school. Creating opportunities for these students who may have been overlooked is critical because these students are going to go back into these communities of need and actually provide the care that we so desperately want and require.”

The new medical school campus will be located in North St. Louis near Jefferson and Cass Avenues on the former Pruitt-Igoe site and is one of several projects underway within the NorthSide Regeneration development, which also includes a new $1.75 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency West headquarters currently under construction. The school is tentatively scheduled to open in fall 2021.

Dr. Lenihan said North St. Louis was the ideal location for the new campus because of its diverse pool of talented prospective students, access to highly credentialed educators and a pressing need for medical and psychological health professionals.

“In rural Missouri, we know we have problems getting doctors working in these areas. We know we have problems getting physicians and healthcare workers working in North St. Louis and urban parts of the state. We must take action,” said Dr. Lenihan. “We build the resources where they’re needed.”

M Property Services Chairman and CEO Paul McKee, Jr. has been working diligently with PHSU representatives for years to make healthcare a reality for North St. Louis, as part of his NorthSide Regeneration development.

“When we started working in the NorthSide, we discovered there were several deserts such as no grocery store, no 24/7 healthcare, safety/security was an issue and there was a digital divide. We have built a GreenLeaf Market to solve the food desert and now we have the hospital and medical school pieces underway to provide 24/7 healthcare,” said McKee. “Ponce Health Sciences University is going to be significant to our town.”

U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay said in a statement addressing the significance of this project to North St. Louis, “As you well know, North St. Louis suffers from significant healthcare disparities in access to both emergency and primary care, high rates of chronic illnesses and lower life expectancies than other parts of our region. This is an important project that will increase access to quality healthcare in underserved neighborhoods. This is a worthy goal for which I will continue to advocate.”

Developer Paul McKee, Jr./M Property Services Advance Vision for St. Louis Geospatial Intelligence Hub with NGA Groundbreaking

NGA Groundbreaking at Northside Regeneration

Developer Paul McKee, Jr./M Property Services Advance Vision for St. Louis Geospatial Intelligence Hub with NGA Groundbreaking

St. Louis Developer Paul McKee, Jr. and his real estate development company M Property Services (MPS) took a huge step last week toward fulfilling a vision to turn St. Louis into a worldwide geospatial intelligence hub with construction starting on a $1.75 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency headquarters in the heart of NorthSide Regeneration – a 1,500-acre mixed-use development led by McKee to revitalize blighted North St. Louis City.

Approximately 400 guests, including state and local politicians, military leaders, residents, NGA employees, business representatives and federal intelligence officials, attended a Nov. 26 groundbreaking ceremony on a 97-acre site at Cass and Jefferson avenues where the new NGA headquarters will be built. St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies and Falls Church, Virginia-based HITT Contracting were selected as the design-build team leading the facility’s construction.

McKee was instrumental in bringing the new NGA headquarters to North St. Louis when MPS and Bob Clark of Clayco Realty Group responded in 2012 to a blind request for proposals, that later turned out to be NGA. McKee had assembled the majority of the land needed for the facility within his proposed NorthSide Regeneration Innovation District, then worked with city officials to assemble the remaining property to accommodate the agency’s site requirements. McKee and Clark credit Senator Roy Blunt (R, Missouri) and Congressman Lacy Clay (D, St. Louis) for advancing the NGA site selection and funding process over the past five years, as well as the State of Missouri which provided the economic incentives to deliver the site.

“With the incredible anchor of NGA’s $1.75 billion project now in the construction phase, the Innovation District within NorthSide Regeneration has begun,” said McKee. “Now we welcome the entire Geospatial/Geo-Intelligence industry leaders to come join NGA in this robust community.”

The NGA project, the largest North St. Louis has seen in generations, will employ more than 3,000 people and is expected to boost the economy of the underserved area, which is located less than a mile from Downtown St. Louis, The Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium.

Since learning of NGA’s plans to build in North St. Louis, geospatial intelligence firms MAXAR Technologies of Colorado and T-Kartor of Sweden have opened offices in The Globe Building in Downtown St. Louis. McKee also has plans for a GEOINT Village and Healthworks Village in the Innovation District to attract more geospatial intelligence firms to St. Louis.

The new 712,000-square-foot NGA facility will replace the agency’s current facility in South St. Louis, which dates back to the 1840s. NGA is the world leader in timely, relevant, accurate and actionable geospatial intelligence that enables the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense to fulfill the President’s national security priorities to protect the nation.

The decision to build a new facility came after a series of planning studies showed it would be less costly, quicker and less disruptive to NGA’s mission to build a new facility rather than upgrade NGA’s current facilities. It has not yet been decided what will happen to NGA’s current campus, which is owned by the U.S. Air Force, when NGA vacates.

The new facility will include office space, parking garages, a visitor’s center, an inspection facility and control access points. The facility, which is designed to achieve a LEED Silver certification for environmental sustainability, is expected to be completed and fully operational by 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is managing the construction on behalf of NGA.

“The new campus will be a secure, flexible, cutting-edge intelligence facility that will put NGA in the heart of St. Louis’ growing geospatial ecosystem and help NGA take advantage of its biggest strengths, its people and partners,” said NGA director Vice Admiral Robert Sharp. “NGA has been proud to call St. Louis home for the past 70 years. I’m excited to see what NGA’s people and partners in the St. Louis region can accomplish together for the next 70.”

McKee has plans to develop the remaining acres around NGA that includes a total of three million square feet of office, two million square feet of retail, one million square feet for tech, 3,000 market-rate residential units and a primary care hospital. A new ZOOM C-store/gas station and GreenLeaf Market have already been completed within the development.

An attendee at the groundbreaking Brian Krueger, head of the St. Louis Place Community Association where NGA will be located, said McKee deserves a lot of credit for assembling the land and bringing the new facility to his neighborhood, and he is grateful to see the progress. St. Louis Place is bounded by Palm Street on the north, Cass Avenue on the south, North Florissant on the east and North Jefferson on the west.

“My wife and I have been in St. Louis Place for about 17 years and we have always been hopeful that someone would take an interest in the neighborhood. We attended many of Paul’s neighborhood meetings and heard his vision. As head of the St. Louis Place Community Association, Paul has always made himself available to come in and work with us,” said Krueger. “NGA would not be here without the assemblage of land that Paul put together. Plus, it was Paul who found and responded to the initial RFP that started the process in the first place.”

M Property Services Director of Construction Management Dr. Ramona Tumblin-Rucker Receives Prestigious MOKAN Award

Dr. Ramona Tumblin-Rucker, PEng, MBA, MPM, CHC, D. Mgt., Director of Construction Management at M Property Services (pictured center), receives the “Private Sector Executive of the Year” award from MOKAN Executive Director Yaphett El-Amin (left) and MOKAN Dinner Chair Honorable Jamilah Nasheed (right).

M Property Services Director of Construction Management Dr. Ramona Tumblin-Rucker Receives Prestigious MOKAN Award

Dr. Ramona Tumblin-Rucker, PEng, MBA, MPM, CHC, D. Mgt., Director of Construction Management at M Property Services (MPS), has been awarded the prestigious “Private Sector Executive of the Year” award by the MOKAN Construction Contractors Assistance Center. Dr. Tumblin-Rucker received her award at the organization’s 45th Annual MOKAN Awards dinner on Nov. 22 in St. Louis.

Since 1974, MOKAN has been at the forefront of efforts to provide opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses on construction projects in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. MOKAN’s goal is to increase the number of qualified MBE and WBE contractors and workers, as well as increase the amount of public and private dollars spent with them.

“I am blessed and I take great pride that an industry trailblazer like MOKAN would find M Property Services and our work worthy of such an important award. Like MOKAN efforts to bring innovation to the industry of construction, we at MPS are bringing innovation to urban development and uplifting economic opportunity by creating jobs and improving the landscape of North St. Louis,” said Dr. Tumblin-Rucker.

Hired by M Property Services in April 2019, Dr. Tumblin-Rucker has been focused on oversite and construction management for projects within MPS Chairman and CEO Paul McKee, Jr.’s NorthSide Regeneration development, a 1,500-acre mixed-use revitalization of underserved North St. Louis located less than a mile from Downtown St. Louis, The Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium.

With a $390 million TIF approved for public infrastructure improvements, NorthSide Regeneration provides a unique and remarkable opportunity to apply new technologies in health, energy, transportation, housing and education. To date, $107 million in private investments have funded the acquisition of 2,300 individual lots, development planning and the start of site clean-up. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has committed to building a $1.7 billion campus on a 100-acre site within the development that would support 7,200 jobs with an average salary of approximately $95,000.

Additional plans for NorthSide Regeneration include three million square feet for offices, two million square feet for retail, one million square feet for tech, 3,000 market rate residential units and a primary care hospital. A solar-powered ZOOM gas station and convenience store and GreenLeaf Market near the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge have been completed. Display homes for a new zero-energy, 250-home residential development within NorthSide Regeneration are also nearing completion.

Creating jobs is the primary motivator behind the NorthSide Regeneration development – with a goal of more than 43,000 construction jobs and 22,000 permanent jobs generated by the development’s activity.

“I am excited about the work we do at MPS. It isn’t often that our daily work touches the spirit of our heart. Every day that I can work towards building healthcare facilities, schools or community-driven projects whose intent is to improve the lives of all people; it’s awesome,” said Dr. Tumblin-Rucker. “The Private Sector Executive of the Year award will be embraced at M Property Services and we will continue to work hard to bring our best to service the community and improve our city.”

Dr. Tumblin-Rucker has a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, MO; MBA in Management from Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, OK; Master of Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management in St. Louis, MO and Doctor of Management from Webster University in Webster Groves, MO.

She is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, Associated General Contractors of St. Louis, St. Louis Construction Forum, St. Louis Construction Consumers Council, Missouri Society for Healthcare Engineering, American Society for Healthcare Engineering, and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

M Property Services to Bring Much Needed Hospital, Healthworks Village to NorthSide Regeneration Development

Architectural drawing of hospital

M Property Services to Bring Much Needed Hospital, Healthworks Village to NorthSide Regeneration Development

St. Louis City Mayor Lyda Krewson signed legislation last week approving up to $8 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance for a new hospital in the city’s most impoverished neighborhood of North St. Louis City. M Property Services (MPS), led by Chairman and CEO Paul McKee, Jr., partnered with medical entrepreneur Dr. David Lenihan, President and CEO of Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), to bring his vision for minority-focused healthcare, which includes 92 new jobs, to North St. Louis as part of the NorthSide Regeneration development.

St. Louis City Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard (D-Ward 5) introduced legislation for the TIF assistance, which the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen passed with a 23-2 vote on Oct. 18, supporting the proposed three-bed hospital with emergency room at Jefferson and Cass Avenues, plus infrastructure improvements to the surrounding area. The project has a projected total cost of about $22 million.

The approved bill also provides that the developers must prove by the end of 2021 that they have financing for a larger, second phase of the project in order to qualify for all of the TIF assistance. This second phase is presently anticipated to include construction of a $73 million, 103,000-square-foot hospital, to be named Homer G. Phillips Hospital, and medical school. TIF financing works by allowing a developer over time to recover costs it has previously expended in completing public infrastructure and other qualified improvements, by accessing a portion of the increased real property and economic activity taxes generated in the future by the new development.

“It’s been a long road, but we definitely need a hospital in North St. Louis – an area that has high rates of hypertension, the most Medicaid recipients within the entire city, lowest life expectancy, and highest infant mortality rate. On a bigger level, this will be the only hospital in North St. Louis,” said Hubbard. “This will be more than just the three-bedroom urgent care hospital; it has a phase two connected to it, which will be a healthcare village that will offer so many needs and services to people who have lived in an impoverished community in excess of 60 years because the city has failed them and not given them the resources to live in a viable, workable community with access to healthcare. This issue has been one that has been near and dear to my heart; it has been definitely near and dear to my constituents because they are the ones who have been suffering.”

The proposed Homer G. Phillips hospital, named after the only hospital for African Americans in St. Louis from 1937 to 1955 when the city still had segregated facilities, would be constructed on the former site of defunct urban housing project Pruitt-Igoe. The site is part of the 1,500-acre NorthSide Regeneration redevelopment area in North St. Louis.

“I thought it was important to the revitalization of North St. Louis City that a hospital be brought back to the community. In working with Dr. Lenihan, we were able to develop a plan that addressed the residents’ needs and desires for local healthcare that has been lacking in the community for decades. We commend Alderwoman Hubbard for her tireless efforts to help make the hospital a reality for her constituents and the forgotten residents of North St. Louis,” said McKee.

United Bank of Union, Sterling Bank and the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council will provide a combined $8 million in loans to get the hospital project underway.

“We are proud to provide financing to the new Homer G. Phillips Hospital to bring a much-needed healthcare facility to the North Side,” said Al Bond, Executive-Secretary Treasurer of the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council. “We invest in projects that benefit our community, and we believe this facility will achieve that.”

Global architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK has been contracted to design the hospital. KAI will provide design/build services to complete the project.

NorthSide Regeneration Issues Settlement Statement

NorthSide Regeneration Issues Settlement Statement

Northside Regeneration LLC (“Northside”) is pleased to announce that it has resolved all outstanding issues with the State of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Revenue (“DOR”) and the Missouri Department of Economic Development (“DED”) regarding NSR’s application for, the issuance of, the use and reporting requirements of the tax credits received by Northside pursuant to the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act.  On June 3, 2019 the State, DOR and DED submitted a Dismissal with Prejudice in Case No. 1822-CC10508.

On June 13, 2018 the State, DED and DOR filed a three count Petition in the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis against Northside seeking a total of $7,097,362.58 in damages.  On August 3, 2018 NSR filed a Motion to Dismiss the Petition, which was still pending with the Court at the time of the dismissal.

After a prolonged period of negotiation, the parties have entered into a Settlement Agreement and General Mutual Release (the “Agreement”).  Under the Agreement, NSR admitted no liability, fault or wrongdoing.  Per the Agreement, NSR made a payment to the State of approximately $320,000.  From NSR’s perspective, the payment represents NSR’s payment of statutory fines relating to the failure to meet technical reporting requirements, the reimbursement of the State’s litigation costs and expenses and the amount that NSR would have been required to spend to vindicate itself of all claims in what was expected to be prolonged and expensive litigation.

With this matter’s resolution, NSR looks forward to focusing all of its attention to building on the success it has achieved in North St. Louis, with the relocation of the NGA facility and its 3,100 jobs, and the recent opening of the GreenLeaf Market/Zoom C-Store project creating 72 new jobs.

NorthSide Regeneration Announces Winners of 6th Annual Project Design Challenge at April 29 Awards Ceremony

NorthSide Regeneration Announces Winners of 6th Annual Project Design Challenge at April 29 Awards Ceremony

St. Louis Developer Paul McKee, Jr. and his NorthSide Regeneration development have named Team 6 from Metro Academic and Classical High School as the Gold Winners of their 6th Annual Project Design Challenge. Team 4 from McKinley Classical Leadership Academy was named the Silver Winner and Team 3 from St. Mary’s High School received the Bronze award. The winners were announced during an awards ceremony on April 29 at the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis.

Six teams representing four St. Louis City high schools (St. Mary’s High School, McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, Metro Academic and Classical High School and Vashon High School) participated in this year’s competition, which challenged students to design an interactive urban park within the NorthSide Regeneration development. Design elements that were to be incorporated into every team’s submission included a variety of sundials, a passive solar food concession building with indoor and outdoor seating, appropriate plant species to enhance the site all year round, water features, a history walk and an amphitheater.

For two students on the winning team, this was the second year that they participated in the challenge, and now one of them is planning on studying architecture at the University of Kansas and the other plans to study mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

This is exactly the goal of our city-wide, high school challenge – to expose more youth to the fields of architecture, engineering and construction,” said McKee. “Year after year, the students surpass our expectations, coming up with innovative ideas and uses for new products and technology in their plans.”

The design challenge was open to any student attending high school within St. Louis City, including public, charter, private and parochial schools. Teams, which could include up to six students, were required to register for the challenge by Jan. 18, 2019.

Participating teams were required to submit a project description between 300-500 words explaining their design theory and solution by the April 5, 2019 submission deadline. Each team also submitted no more than three poster boards showing an aerial location for the park, a site plan, enlarged details/and or elevations and an optional perspective drawing. A 3-D model of each team’s design was also required.

On April 13, 2019, each team orally presented their project, then answered questions before a jury of individuals in the fields of architecture, engineering and construction, plus neighborhood liaisons and representatives of NorthSide Regeneration. This year’s judges included: Michael B. Kennedy, Jr., CEO of KAI Enterprises; Donald N. Koster III, Senior Lecturer at Washington University and Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, and Design Practice Leader at Arcturis; William Laskowsky, Chief Development Officer at M Property Services; Paul McKee, Jr., Chairman of M Property Services and owner of NorthSide Regeneration; David Suttle, Design for Architecture Interiors and Planning; Ramona Tumblin-Rucker, Director of Construction Management at M Property Services; Paul Whitson, Regional Leader of Healthcare at HOK; and Chris Wilson, Project Manager at Cole.

“Our thanks to everyone who helped with this project design competition, especially the teachers and mentors who guided and encouraged the students throughout the design process. We could not have been more impressed with all of the students’ creativity and excellent work,” said McKee. “Thanks to everyone who participated and helped to make this year’s challenge another success.”

To date, over 300 students representing nine St. Louis City High Schools, and over 50 mentors have participated in NorthSide Regeneration’s Project Design Challenge. Past challenges have included, “Planning for the Autonomous Vehicle”, “Neighborhood Entry Marker”, “Urban Park”, “Neighborhood Streetscape” and “Parking Lot of the 21st Century”. The challenge is coordinated every year by Karen Bahr, Executive Assistant at M Property Services.

Participants in Annual Project Design Challenge Submit Plans for Interactive Urban Park

Participants in Annual Project Design Challenge Submit Plans for Interactive Urban Park

St. Louis City high school participants in this year’s Project Design Challenge presented their ideas to a panel of judges on Saturday, April 13. The students were asked to design an interactive urban park within M Property Services’ NorthSide Regeneration development. The winning teams will be announced at an awards ceremony on April 29 at the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis. Best of luck to all of the student participants!

GreenLeaf Market Celebrates April 1 Ribbon Cutting and Soft Opening

GreenLeaf Market Celebrates April 1 Ribbon Cutting and Soft Opening

Staff and owners from GreenLeaf Market, representatives of the City of St. Louis and NorthSide Regeneration, and many other supporters gathered under a white tent on April 1 to commemorate the long-awaited opening of GreenLeaf Market in the NorthSide Regeneration footprint. The 20,000-square-foot grocery store is located at the corner of Tucker Boulevard and 13th Street in north St. Louis City.

A ribbon cutting at the event marked the grocery store’s soft opening. GreenLeaf will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the grand opening on April 13, which will start the normal store hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The grand opening celebration will feature free samples, a “fill-a-basket” food drive for needy families in the community, and drawings for free groceries. Giveaways will also be held for free gas and car washes from the new ZOOM Convenience Store across the street.

“I want to personally welcome GreenLeaf Market to St. Louis. You are vital piece of the puzzle that is helping NorthSide Regeneration lift up this neighborhood that has been overlooked and underserved for far too long,” said U.S. Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D) at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “Most of us take having a nice grocery store nearby for granted, but for many hardworking people in urban areas with food deserts like this one, having access to a full- service supermarket with fresh produce, meats, fish, dairy and prepared foods will be life changing. And given the fact that many residents in this neighborhood depend on public transportation, having a good store within a few blocks from home is the difference between a livable neighborhood and a failed neighborhood.”

GreenLeaf Market is locally owned by St. Louis Grocery Group, in partnership with Good Natured Family Farms, a cooperative alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The market features locally- and regionally-grown produce and meats and a wide array of unique items that shoppers won’t find at other grocery stores. The store also features a state-of-the-art kitchen managed by an experienced, on-site chef focused on creating farm-fresh, nutritious and fully-prepared grab-and-go food selections. GreenLeaf Market, which created 72 full- and part-time job opportunities for local residents, plans to offer convenient curbside pick-up for online orders to better serve the needs of commuters and people working downtown. 

“I’m excited that small and mid-sized farmers can get their agriculture into an urban area. And for the people who live and visit and work around here, they now have a choice for fresh produce,” said Glenn Mitchell of St. Louis Grocery Group. “It’s a $20 million plus project and it’s a little risky, but I’m excited to be a part of it all.”

Good Natured Family Farms co-owner Diana Endicott said she plans to replicate the success of her business in the Kansas City area in St. Louis at the new GreenLeaf Market.

“Here we are today, after many years of planning and reaching out. We hope to do the same thing to utilize some of the farms that we currently have, but have also spent two years of research, sponsored by the USDA, to locate farms around this area that would be able to bring fresh produce and meats, cheeses and honey. We also want local artisan products, handcrafted products, to be able to help them come to the marketplace,” she said at the ceremony.

Dr. Katie Plax, Medical Director at The Spot, a center devoted to the health and well-being of St. Louis City youth ages 13 to 24, spoke at the ceremony about the physical and mental health benefits young people in the community will realize by having GreenLeaf Market in their neighborhood.

“GreenLeaf to me is the green sprout of a brighter future ahead for the northside of St. Louis and those who live and work here. To healthy kids and families to chronic disease prevention and treatment, to system and policy change to reduce hunger and to powerful collaborations for a mission that better serves our community, we celebrate,” said Dr. Plax.

For more information about GreenLeaf Market, visit www.GreenLeafMarketStl.com.

St. Louis Grocery Group Announces Grand Opening of GreenLeaf Market & ZOOM Convenience Store on April 13

St. Louis Grocery Group Announces Grand Opening of GreenLeaf Market & ZOOM Convenience Store on April 13

St. Louis Grocery Group announces its grand opening celebration for GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM Gulf Gas Station and Convenience Store, both located near the corner of Tucker and 13 Street on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The grand opening for the new, north St. Louis City grocery store and convenience store will feature free samples, family-friendly activities and drawings for free gas, car washes and food giveaways.

Locally-owned GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM will deliver a unique combination of farm-fresh quality foods, community and convenience for residents of north St. Louis City and surrounding areas. GreenLeaf Market is the first grocery store to be built in north St. Louis City since 1968 and is proudly owned by St. Louis Grocery Group, in partnership with Good Natured Family Farms, a cooperative alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.

“We value farm fresh and local nutritious, affordable food as the foundation for a strong community,” said Good Natured Family Farms co-owner, Diana Endicott.

As a locally-owned and operated grocer, GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM strive to support other local and regional businesses by working with family farms to deliver high-quality, fresh food and a wide range of unique products that you won’t find at other grocers in the area. GreenLeaf Market is also actively engaged in the neighborhood community, working with church and civic leaders to help ensure that area residents’ needs are being met. More than 72 new jobs will be created by GreenLeaf and ZOOM, which is just the beginning of a larger, longer-term plan to spur job growth and new development and help regenerate the economy of north St. Louis City.

GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM are located within the NorthSide Regeneration (NSR) development, a mixed-use community development – a self-sustaining neighborhood of people, cultures, economic opportunity, safety and education with the infrastructure and growth to support key, necessary services for the community. The original development encompasses over 1,500 acres and borders downtown St. Louis. Jobs have always been the primary motivator for NSR with a goal of more than 43,000 construction jobs and 22,000 permanent jobs generated by the development’s activity.

The 20,000-square-foot grocery store will feature a state-of-the-art kitchen and an experienced, on-site chef who will be focused on creating fresh, nutritious, affordable, fully-prepared grab-and-go food selections while cooking with farm-fresh ingredients. GreenLeaf Market will also be ramping up convenient curbside pick-up for online orders to better serve the needs of commuters and people working downtown. 

With an in-house bee colony, the market will deliver an educational experience for people of all ages.
“GreenLeaf Market will be partnering up with more local businesses to strengthen our community, while adopting new technology to create a truly one-of-a-kind grocery shopping experience. From the moment you enter GreenLeaf and experience the full-height mural depicting the near NorthSide, you know you are in a unique setting,” said Eyad Tammas of St. Louis Grocery Group.

Join the GreenLeaf Market and ZOOM Convenience Store grand opening event on Facebook: http://bit.ly/GLGO4-13 and follow GreenLeaf and ZOOM on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and details of this exciting community celebration. For more information about GreenLeaf and ZOOM, visit www.GreenLeafMarketStl.com and www.ZOOMStL.com.

ZOOM Solar-Powered Gulf Gas Station Convenience Store and Car Wash Opens in NorthSide Regeneration Development

ZOOM Solar-Powered Gulf Gas Station Convenience Store and Car Wash Opens in NorthSide Regeneration Development

It’s an exciting time in north St. Louis City. Along with the multibillion-dollar National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) project proceeding and new residential homes being built, St. Louis Grocery Group has opened the ZOOM Gulf gas station and C-Store at 1300 N. Tucker Blvd. An official grand opening celebration is scheduled for mid-April.

“NorthSide Regeneration’s vision is to create a healthier, more vibrant community in north St. Louis City,” said NorthSide Regeneration developer Paul McKee, Jr. “We have identified five economic and social deserts within this underserved area of St. Louis City that include health, food, jobs, digital divide and safety. Our proposed NorthSide Regeneration development is working to address these areas, with ZOOM being the first. ZOOM is powered by solar energy, plus it brings farm fresh healthy food options and more than a dozen full- and part-time jobs to the area. Additionally, ZOOM’s construction generated several construction jobs that exceeded the city’s minority participation requirements on the project in both contractors and boots on the ground working.”

In addition to the typical products sold at most convenience stores, ZOOM also offers farm fresh produce and local artisan products provided by St. Louis area entrepreneurs and Good Natured Family Farms, an alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Initial locally-sourced food offerings at ZOOM include a variety of jams, jellies and pickled items from Blackberry Hill Farms in Rich Hill, MO and honey from Hawley Honey Bee Farm in Iola, KS.

ZOOM also sells seasonal items and holiday gift baskets, plus healthy meals-on-the-go such as pizzas, sandwiches, salads and wraps made fresh in ZOOM’s GoCafé by Executive Chef Philip Kurrus and his staff. Chef Kurrus brings nearly 30 years of foodservice and hospitality experience to ZOOM. He previously served in a variety of positions ranging from Executive Chef to Kitchen Manager. Chef Kurrus earned his Associates in Culinary Arts degree from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT and interned under Todd English at Michaela’s in Cambridge, MA and with Marcel Keraval at Café de France in St. Louis, MO.

Another first for the St. Louis area, with the support of Ameren electric, ZOOM’s unconventional-looking canopy over its gas pumps supports a state-of-the-art, two-way solar panel system capable of producing 109,000 kWh of electricity annually – enough to power most of the gas station, convenience store and car wash.

Manufactured by Prism Solar Technologies, the glass-on-glass solar panels are capable of generating 35% more energy per watt than traditional modules through its use of advanced bifacial N-type silicon cell technology that can generate electricity on both its front and back surfaces. The panels also offer exceptional performance in low light conditions due to the additional energy produced by its back surface, which allows ZOOM to maximize its solar investment.

ZOOM’s high-tech solar panel system is expected to produce energy equivalent to 216,208 lifetime gallons of gasoline not consumed, 2,014 new trees planted each year, 722 lifetime tons of recycled waste and a lifetime of 438 cars taken off the road, all consistent with NorthSide Regeneration’s commitment to sustainability.

ZOOM is open Monday through Sunday, 5 a.m. to midnight. For more information, coupons and other news about ZOOM, visit www.zoomstl.com.