Metro East Built $6 Billion in 2010 Projects

 Investments continued to flow through the development pipeline in St. Louis' Metro East during 2010, with non-residential projects totaling more than $6 billion under various stages of construction during the year. The update on the construction activity for the year was recently compiled by the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois as part of its ongoing work to track the total value of projects announced, under construction or completed each year in Madison and St. Clair counties in Southwestern Illinois.

"While the next edition of our comprehensive Market Review & Investment Update won't be released until early April, we were curious to see how projects that were announced in our 2008-2009 edition were faring given the overall downturn in the economy," notes incoming Leadership Council President Gerard Schuetzenhofer, president of Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors. "We were very pleasantly surprised by what we found."

Of the 135 projects that had been reported with an Announced status prior to Dec. 31, 2009, the Council was able to verify the status of 112 as of the end of 2010. Of those, 63 had moved forward during 2010 and had either been completed during that calendar year or remain under construction. An additional 41 projects totaling $982 million remain on the Announced list, representing just under $1 billion in additional anticipated capital investments for the Metro East in the coming years. Only eight previously announced projects had dropped off the list.

Projects that changed status from Announced to Under Construction during 2010 had a total value of $1.09 billion, and they joined an additional 31 projects, at an estimated $4.03 billion, that had already broken ground and are still in the construction phase. An additional $916.5 million in projects that had been announced or were under construction during 2009 were completed in 2010, bringing the total construction dollars at work during the year to more than $6 billion.

Topping the list of projects still under construction in terms of investment amount is the $3.6 billion expansion at ConocoPhillips Wood River Refinery, which was in high gear throughout 2010 and is expected to remain under construction through much of 2011.

Additional significant projects that have and will continue to provide jobs for the construction trades include the new $79 million Science Building at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the new $55 million Mascoutah High School, and the new Mississippi River Bridge, which is estimated at a total of $670 million, much of which will be invested on the Illinois side of the river.

Among the projects that wrapped up during the year were USTRANSCOM's new $130 million command center at Scott Air Force Base, Phase 2 of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center - a $16 million project, and the $17 million Army Reserve Center at Rivers Edge.

As part of its research process, the Leadership Council staff has identified 117 new projects in various stages of development for the 2010 edition of the Market Review & Investment Update. These new projects total more than $675 million in new capital investment that will help to keep the pipeline well over $1 billion dollars for the foreseeable future, even after mega projects such as the ConocoPhillips expansion are completed. More details on these projects, the industry sectors they are in, and their status will be provided in the 2010 Market Review & Investment Update, due to be released in early April.

"In the past year, we heard a lot about the continuing challenges facing our region, from the growing state budget deficit to the ongoing issues related to the Metro East levees," notes Patrick McKeehan, executive director of the Leadership Council. "As we reflect on the past year and look to 2011, it's important to take the time to highlight the good things that are still happening across the Metro East, and we believe the continuing level of investment activity is even more noteworthy because it's occurring in spite of the other challenges. To the Leadership Council, that's a sign that investors, developers and business owners in our region have confidence that our leaders are on a solid path to address the levee issues and are growing more optimistic about the overall economy."

For additional information, please refer to the 2008-2009 Market Review and Investment Update, which is available online at www.siteselection-il.com, or contact the Leadership Council at 618.692.9745. Interested individuals can also request to be notified when the new 2010 edition is available. The information included in each edition of the Market Review & Investment Update is compiled from a variety of private and public sources. Only reported projects of $0.5 million or more in Madison & St. Clair counties are included, and transportation projects included are just a sampling and not intended to be all inclusive. Project status - Announced, Under Construction or Completed - is as of the end of 4th Quarter of 2009 for the projects included in the 2008-2009 edition currently online. The 2010 investment numbers referred to in this release are drawn from the preliminary projects list being compiled for the 2010 Market Review & Investment Update and are based on the status of those projects as of the end of 4th Quarter 2010.

The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois is a member-based, economic development corporation representing Madison and St. Clair counties. The Council works to attract/retain jobs and stimulate capital investment through its coalition of leaders in business, industry, labor, education and government. These effective partnerships serve as a driving force behind successful economic development efforts in Southwestern Illinois and the metropolitan area.

The information included in each edition of the Market Review & Investment Update is compiled from a variety of private and public sources. Only reported projects of $0.5 million or more in Madison & St. Clair counties are included, and transportation projects included are just a sampling and not intended to be all inclusive.
Project status - Announced, Under Construction or Completed - is as of the end of 4th Quarter of 2009 for the projects included in the 2008-2009 edition currently online. The 2010 investment numbers referred to in this release are drawn from the preliminary projects list being compiled for the 2010 Market Review & Investment Update and are based on the status of those projects as of the end of 4th Quarter 2010.

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