Foundry Developer Suggests Entertainment May Be Best Use for Armory
Date Posted: September 8, 2026
Posted In: Discussion, Projects, What we are thinking about,
From St. Louis Magazine: Steve Smith wants to get a conversation started about whether The Armory should be converted into office space or kept as an entertainment venue. And the CEO of New + Found says that can’t just be theoretical: Part of developer TerraWatt’s plan to build a data center at the Famous-Barr warehouse next door comes with the commitment to bring hundreds of well-paying permanent jobs via a transformation of The Armory into creative tech office space. Smith hopes to see that plan modified, should there be sufficient interest in keeping The Armory an entertainment use.
Smith, who spearheaded the City Foundry development on the other side of Interstate 64, says he recently raised the idea of shifting The Armory’s end use, which would likely mean altering the data center’s community benefits agreement between the City of St. Louis and TerraWatt. “We’re floating the idea out because I know they’ve made a commitment, but we think this is a better long-term solution for Midtown,” Smith says.
Sees City Foundry As Office Hub
Having built City Foundry into a destination, with a growing number of visitors, about 100,000 square feet of filled office space, and residents moving in to recently finished apartments, Smith says he’s keen on seeing those results compound. He thinks that can best happen if City Foundry grows as a hub for office workers and The Armory instead focuses on entertainment.
“We have a vision and a master plan about continuing that success with the property both to our east and our west,” he says. “That includes basically creating additional mixed use components: more office, more entertainment, more retail, more residential, and perhaps even hospitality at some point.”
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer declined to comment on Friday.