Lawrence Group adds Integrate Construction Partners, names president

Lawrence Group has announced the spinoff of its construction division into a separate entity, now known as Integrate Construction Partners.

The new commercial construction company offers design-build, construction management and general contracting services. Lawrence Group will continue to provide its core design services including architecture and interior design through its three offices nationwide.

Lawrence Group, which has had a construction division since 2004, has seen its construction division grow substantially through client relationships and its own affiliated real estate projects.

“The market for how organizations seek to facilitate their building needs continues to evolve. The establishment of Integrate Construction Partners creates a more independent platform for providing construction services while allowing our design practice to solely focus on industry-leading design solutions,” said Steve Smith, CEO of Lawrence Group.  

Scott Zola has been named president of Integrate Construction Partners; Smith will serve as its chairman. 

“I am excited to build upon the success of our construction group through Integrate Construction Partners. Honesty and transparency coupled with first-in-class full life cycle project leadership is the cornerstone upon which Integrate is built. Through a true partnership, we will work with all our project stakeholders to integrate value, safety, quality, community and fun,” said Zola.

Zola joined Lawrence Group in 2014 to lead the firm’s construction practice. Since then, he has grown the firm’s construction volume from approximately $5 million of St. Louis based work to more than $40 million across multiple states with plans for continued growth.

The spinoff, and recent announcement of real estate affiliate New + Found, is part of the organization’s overall strategic plan to build a multidisciplinary group of companies to provide comprehensive building solutions. 

City Foundry STL gears up for debut, despite official opening date

St. Louis' $220 million mixed-used development, City Foundry STL, is gearing up for their highly-anticipated debut, despite an official opening date.

The 15-acre site includes 122,000 SF of food hall and public market space, 107,000 SF of creative office space and 105,000 SF of retail shops - all rolled into its own midtown destination on Forest Park Ave between Vandeventer and Spring streets.

Steve Smith, CEO of the Lawrence Group, the property's developer, has reinvented the former Century Electric site with inspiration from similar developments - like Chelsea Market in New York City and Krog Street Market in Atlanta. 

Unlike a typical outdoor mall, the majority of vendors in the development are independently-owned, small businesses - as well as a few emerging concepts new to St. Louis - who will make their debut in the nearly 100-year-old foundry structure. The food hall and public market will bring together more than twenty different local chefs, each with their own unique-food-concept "mini restaurants,” as well as the other vendors in the food space.

The collective City Foundry STL team sees the public market as an opportunity to give local chefs, restaurateurs, artisans and more a platform to rebuild from COVID-19.

“Our local hospitality industry defines the current culture and uniqueness of our city. It’s also the most vulnerable during this time. Our hope is that City Foundry can be a place for ideas to incubate and grow into a viable business; a place where new concepts will be surrounded by industry leaders to learn from and succeed,” said City Foundry STL asset manager, Will Smith.

Anchor tenants include grocery store Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which marks its first metro area location.

Other tenants include: 18Rails|The Venue @City Foundry STL, Buenos Aires Cafe, Bullhorn, City Taco Shack, Fassler Hall, Gateway Blend, Good Day, Great Rivers Greenway, Hello Poke, Orion Genomics, Press Waffle Company and Punch Bowl Social.

An on-site hiking-and-biking trail connecting Forest Park to downtown St. Louis is in the works via Great Rivers Greenway, the sponsoring regional agency. Free parking will also be available, with over 1,000 parking spaces on site.

City Foundry STL continues to progress on construction of the overall development. An exact opening timeline will be determined and announced soon, based on recommendations from health officials as well as the comfort level of future customers.

Prospective tenant interest has returned to pre-covid levels, according to the development team, with 95% of office space leased and 65% of the development pre-leased overall.

For more information on leasing, please contact Rob Soete at rob@cityfoundrystl.com.