New facility to serve as electric operations hub for more than 135,000 customers
KAI Build and joint venture partner PARIC Corporation broke ground on Oct. 24 to start construction of Ameren Missouri’s new North Metro Operating Center at 4427 Geraldine Avenue. The $21 million facility will replace the adjacent Geraldine Operating Center which has employed hundreds of Ameren employees and provided electric operations to North St. Louis for over 60 years.
The North Metro Operating Center will be a localized hub for up to 500 Ameren employees who perform work from electric system repairs to major infrastructure upgrade projects to storm restoration. The new facility, which is expected to be completed in Dec. 2020, will include:
- 19,600-square-foot office building for administrative offices and a crew area
- 26,000-square-foot open truck shelter for 42 trucks
- 6,400-square-foot storage building
- 4,400-square-foot, three-sided trailer storage building
“Ameren Missouri is committed to creating stronger communities where we work and live, which is why we are reinvesting in North St. Louis by building the new North Metro Operating Center next door to our current facility,” said Michael Moehn, Chairman and President of Ameren Missouri. “The new, larger facility was needed to continue to meet our customers’ service reliability needs in North St. Louis and surrounding communities. A project of this magnitude requires collaboration and partnership with a number of stakeholders, including local government officials, community leaders and a host of diverse contractors.”
Ameren Missouri is constructing the project through a joint venture partnership with its general contractors, PARIC Corporation and minority-owned KAI Build.
“KAI Build is proud to be a part of helping the transformation of the north bookend of the city. Ameren, being an excellent corporate citizen and making this investment, gets the snowball rolling to help start the development infill between this project and the central corridor,” said Michael Kennedy, Jr., CEO of KAI Enterprises. “This allows developers to start looking at all the possibilities north of Delmar. These anchor projects are so important. This feels really good.”
The joint venture partnership between PARIC and KAI will represent the two firms’ eighth project together over the past 20 years. As a prominent construction leader in the area, PARIC recognizes the impact of partnership with diverse businesses.
“We are very excited to start this project with Ameren Missouri alongside our longtime partners KAI,” said Keith Wolkoff, President of PARIC Corporation. “We pride ourselves on bringing meaningful inclusion efforts to all of our projects and embed that into our company culture. The importance of growing the capabilities of minority firms in our area is crucial.”
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Patrick E. Smith Sr., Vice President, Division Operations, for Ameren Missouri
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Jeffrey L. Boyd, Democrat for Alderman – 22nd Ward
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Keith Wolkoff, President of PARIC and Michael B. Kennedy, President of KAI
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