KMOV departing downtown St. Louis for new facility in suburbs

Gray Television’s KMOV is set to depart downtown St. Louis in 2023 for a new broadcast facility in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

KMOV has broadcast from Gateway Tower at One Memorial Drive for over 50 years, with the station last seeing major changes in 2015 with the debut of a new set. With 28,000 square feet of space inside the office tower, the broadcaster is centrally located in downtown across from Gateway Arch National Park and the Gateway Arch.

Downtown St. Louis, however, has seen an uptick in businesses relocating to nearby suburbs due to increases in crime and to avoid the city’s earnings tax.

In Maryland Heights, KMOV will turn a three-story office building known as 77 Progress Parkway into its new facility with 45,000 square feet available for studios, newsroom and production support spaces. 

The property, near Westport Plaza and Interstate 270, includes an existing warehouse, making it an ideal candidate for transformation into a broadcast space. 

The site also includes two acres with ample parking for vehicles, something at a premium downtown. 

Gray purchased the property from Biomedical Partners II LLC for $8.7 million, according to reporting from St. Louis Business Journal. 

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The site formerly housed Biomedical Systems, a company that provides clinical trials services and medical devices to biopharmaceutical and healthcare organizations, which was acquired by ERT (now known as Clario) in 2017. 

Nexstar Media Group’s St. Louis duopoly, KTVI and KPLR, also broadcast from a converted facility in Maryland Heights. Tegna’s KSDK remains downtown.