January 9, 2025 | A newly built distribution facility in the Metro East landed its first tenant with an engineering firm’s expansion.

The newly built distribution facility in Collinsville, called Eastport Commerce Center, was developed through a partnership led by Edwardsville-based Contegra Construction Co., one of St. Louis’ largest design-build general contractors. With 75,000 square feet, the facility was built on a 9.5-acre site at100 Commerce Center Drive, the intersection of Eastport Plaza Drive and Fairmont Avenue, near the interchange of interstates 255 and 55 in the Eastport Plaza business park. 

BHMG, a utility engineering firm headquartered in Sunset Hills, in December opened its new, larger office in the building. In the process, the firm quintupled its space to 25,000 square feet over the 5,000 square feet it occupied at its prior Collinsville office at 1902 Vandalia St., Contegra said in a news release.

Development costs for the new office and building were not disclosed, and Contegra’s development partners were also not disclosed. The property is part of a larger 15.58 acres that was purchased by Eastport Commerce Center LLC, registered to Contegra’s office, in 2022 for $750,000. At the time, the property was farmland owned by John Gerdes since the 1970s, Madison County records show.

In addition to developing the property, Contegra oversaw the design and construction of the building. The design uses tilt-up concrete panels with adecorative brick inlay and storefront window accents, according to the release. It has a 28-foot clear height, four dock doors with three drive-in doors, highbay LED lighting and 160 parking spaces.

The building can be divided into three separate tenant spaces. A marketing brochure for the property shows that the other two spaces could be divided down as low as 16,667 square feet, or kept together for a total of 49,379 square feet combined. Leasing brokers are Steve Zuber and Ethan Gowin of Shiloh-based commercial real estate firm Barber Murphy. 

As of now, the sole tenant is BHMG, which was founded in 1972 and continues to serve as a utility-focused engineering and consulting services firm that works on projects for electric companies, municipalities and businesses with large energy needs, the company said. 

The “bigger and better” Collinsville office “will help us better serve our clientsand support our growing teams,” while growing the firm’s presence in Collinsville, BHMG posted on social media. Gray Design Group collaborated on the design for the office, the engineering firm said.

The new office “reflects our commitment to excellence, collaboration, and delivering even greater support to our clients. This new location marks an exciting expansion for us as we continue to serve our clients from both our St. Louis office and our new Collinsville office. From our initial announcement to today, this journey has been all about creating a space where our teams can thrive and provide exceptional service and solutions,” the firm said.

BHMG was not immediately available for further comment.

Tax increment financing is in place at the new building, but no further detailson those incentives were available. 

Article courtesy of St. Louis Business Journal