By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Officials broke ground Monday on a 550 acre office park in North St. Louis County.
The complex is being built on land near I-70 and Hanley Road that Lambert airport purchased in the 1980s as part of a noise buyout plan.
County executive Charlie Dooley said the development, known as NorthPark, could bring 12,000 jobs to the area. However he said not all of those will be new.
"Some will probably be retained, there's no question about it, and some will be new," Dooley said. "There'll be a good mixture. But more importantly, it'll be jobs that stay right here in the St. Louis metropolitan area. And that's going to be key for our future."
Dooley said St. Louis County is spending about $15 million to build new infrastructure at the site, and developers are kicking in another $50 million.
Vatterott College is NorthPark's first tenant. The vocational school will move its main campus there next year.