Sarah Street

Connecting art and innovation districts on a mile-long corridor

In 2016, SLP Urban Planning was sought out to explore opportunities to ‘connect the dots’ between the Cortex Innovation District and an impressive patchwork of adjacencies, corridors, open space connections and better position Koman Group properties located in Cortex Innovation District in St. Louis. Cortex is located in the Grove arts cluster. The Sarah Street Project included a one-mile corridor connecting the two districts.

The thesis was that innovation alone never cuts it, but rather that the strong relationships between innovation, economic development, and arts and culture coupled with the importance of placemaking, communications, and outreach are vital to planning vibrant communities. Similar to Makers Quarter, through grassroots community engagement and placemaking, SLP Urban Planning worked to connect the two districts along the Sarah Street Corridor.

In addition to placemaking and community engagement, SLP Urban Planning completed comprehensive branding, interior design, urban design, and art curation for Chroma, a multi-family mixed-use project in the Grove.