Only on 4: US Capital Development completes construction on 3 industrial facilities in Fenton Logistics Park

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- Inside the new Grey Eagle Distributors headquarters in the Fenton Logistics Park, all business is about beer and beverages.

Grey Eagle now has almost 240,000 square feet of space. That’s double its former Maryland Heights headquarters.

“It’s night and day,” Grey Eagle Distributors President and CEO David Stokes said.

Stokes, who has 18 years with Grey Eagle, said his company needed more vertical space. The state-of-the-art facilities available at the Fenton Logistics Park allow for such a facility. The distributor most known for being an Anheuser-Busch partner moves 700,000 cases of product every three weeks.

The future is promising and Stokes says that’s why he likes having an additional 100,000 square feet next door he could construct when needed.

“It gives you a sense of optimism for St. Louis and the opportunity for us,” Stokes explained. “We couldn’t be happier to be here.”

Since 2017, U.S. Capital Development has brought Amazon, BASF, Killark Electric and others to Fenton. The campus of businesses hosts more than 3,000 permanent jobs.

Now, U.S. Capital Development is officially putting the final touches on three state-of-the-art industrial facilities at the regionally recognized Fenton Logistics Park. These structures have a combined area of 416,000 square feet.

Situated strategically with prime visibility to Interstate-44, these facilities have attracted respected tenants, including CTDI, moving into a 125,000 square foot facility.

Locally rooted 1st Phorm is expanding its presence within “The Park” with a 158,000-square-foot facility, and another 133,000-square-foot building.

Fenton Logistics Park is currently 100% leased and the completion of these projects marks a significant milestone in the region’s industrial landscape, promising enhanced opportunities for economic growth and development.

It’s personal for Lute Cain, vice president of operations for Wally’s, to be a partner in the park. “Back when it was Chrysler, my dad worked here at this place,” Cain said.

Drivers, both locally and those traveling, pump 15,000 gallons of gas a day. Cain told First Alert 4 that in just a little over a year, business has boomed so much, Wally’s will now enter the Indianapolis market with construction starting later this year.

A sense of pride with every sandwich, scoop of popcorn, and tank of gas as Cain is creating a new legacy where his dad once earned an honest wage.

“When we drove by as a kid, there were the minivans sitting outside and my dad would point out, ‘That’s where I work,’” Cain said.

A study by Aecom found the St. Louis region took a $15 billion hit when the Chrysler plant closed in 2009. It employed 6,300 people and 43,000 direct and indirect induced jobs in the region. The 295-acre property sat abandoned for years.

U.S. Capital Development’s Scott Haley said that couldn’t be replicated, but something significant could be put in the plant’s place.

“We were confident on the strength of this market,” Haley explained. “What we could do here is to create the environment, bring in the infrastructure to allow the business to do what they have done.”

Years later, the Fenton Logistics Park has 2 million square feet of Class A industrial space. For context, there’s about 3 million square feet of Class A office space in Clayton. Park leaders said it’s maybe comparing oranges to apples but does speak to the scale of the development.

“We don’t have a bunch of forklifts moving product around. we’ve created an employment center,” Haley said.

Where a once-iconic factory stood, new local and national brands are choosing to build something here for future generations in the St. Louis region to enjoy.

“Coming here has been fantastic,” Stokes shared. “I know some of our partners down the street, BJC, Amazon, it’s created a nice sense of community and we are looking forward to seeing things continue to grow.”

The final peg of this nearly 300-acre piece of property will go into place before the end of the year. There are 13 acres next door to Wally’s that U.S. Capital Development is eying for retail, food, and hotel use.

Haley told First Alert 4 that ground will break in the next 30 days, with completion in 2025.

Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved.