Marketing Multi-Modal Transportation Assets

Sep 29

Behind-the-Scenes: St. Louis Regional Freightway’s Industrial Market & Workforce Report

Each year, the St. Louis Regional Freightway produces their Industrial Real Estate Market Indicators & Workforce Statistics Report. This data-driven visual tool provides a comprehensive snapshot of the St. Louis region’s logistics landscape, and for the last 6 years, Steadfast City has played a key role in shaping it. From research to consultation, our team works behind the scenes to ensure the report reflects the region’s strengths and opportunities for industrial growth.

Here’s how we do it and why it matters to logistics and site selection professionals.

Step 1: Researching Site Criteria & Market Trends

We begin by analyzing the region’s industrial real estate inventory, workforce statistics, and infrastructure assets. Our goal is to identify the most strategic sites for logistics and manufacturing tenants, prioritizing multimodal access, competitive rents, and proximity to a job-ready labor force. Using data from sources like JobsEQ, CoStar, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we track trends in GDP growth, labor force participation, and industrial development. This research helps us define site criteria that reflects what tenants and developers need most: affordability, connectivity, and scalability..

Step 2: Updating the Available Sites Map & Designing the Newsletter

Once our findings are in place, we collaborate with the St. Louis Regional Freightway team to update the real estate modules on their website and begin on the design for the 2025 newsletter. The Freightway team is an excellent strategic partner, balancing relationships and priorities on both sides of the river and going the extra mile to develop and prepare sites that will encourage growth. Every year, our mutual goal is to make the data digestible and actionable for site selectors, developers, and logistics operators.

2025’s Key Regional Advantages include:

A Job-Ready Labor Force

More than 1.3 million people in the labor force
The region also has a labor force participation rate of 65.2%, as well as a prime age labor force participation rate (age 25-54) of 86.3%, both of which outpace the national rates.

Available Industrial Real Estate

Nearly 4 million square feet of industrial space under construction
Competitive rents averaging $5.17/sq ft across major submarkets

Strategic Geographic Location & Multimodal Infrastructure

Access to six Class I railroads
Four major interstate highways (I-44, I-55, I-64 and I-70)
St. Louis Lambert International Airport serves 20 airlines and offers non-stop service to 68 cities, and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in St. Clair County, Illinois, recently expanded its terminal to meet increased demand
The region also is home to the nation’s most efficient inland port

These insights are packaged into a visually engaging newsletter that showcases why the St. Louis region continues to be a top-tier destination for freight and industrial investment.

Step 3: Consulting on Site Selection for Prospective Tenants

The St. Louis Regional Freightway, Steadfast City, and local media firm, Hauser Group PR, works for the first two quarters of each year to write press releases, record webinars, and release the Market Indicators & Workforce Statistics newsletter, all of which is reference Steadfast City’s data and findings that successfully market the region.

“We’re one of the best locations for the manufacturing industry and it’s our job to make sure we are providing the right data and statistics and sharing all of the information that site selectors need to be aware of our market,” Mary Lamie of Bi-State Development remarked. “The most recent thing that [Steadfast City] has done for us - that has been tremendously successful – is putting together a list of developer-ready rail-accessible sites. We have 20 sites, and we already have a significant hit on one of them – it is currently under contract and it is a $820MM project.”

Bi-State Development and the St. Louis Regional Freightway produce a week of events famously titled FreightweekSTL. The week highlights the leadership role the St. Louis region continues to play in advancing major infrastructure projects that support its position as a world-class logistics hub.

Why it matters:

By curating properties that meet core industrial criteria and maintaining a consistent evaluation rubric, Steadfast City helps the Freightway ensure companies can quickly identify viable sites. This clarity not only streamlines the decision-making process for users but also strengthens the region’s competitiveness in attracting new investment.