NGA

These events help reinforce the region’s position as a geospatial hub, as the NGA’s new headquarters are set to open by early 2026.

Geospatial tech industry workers said the industry could mirror biotech's growth in the region.

Mayor Tishaura Jones signed legislation Tuesday clearing the way for the city to force the sale of certain private properties near the NGA’s new headquarters that are unoccupied, vacant, condemned or otherwise a nuisance.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is involved in the academic research because the federal agency has some of the foremost experts on the mapping tool being used, the researchers said.

“St. Louis put in the effort years ago to have this new facility built here and then recognized that that was not the end of the journey, that was the beginning of the journey,” said the former leader of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

The facility will include a first-ever innovation center, where people without security clearances can work alongside NGA staff on problems or issues the agency regularly grapples with.

The roughly 3,100 people who work for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis will likely start moving into new space in late 2025, with that move completed in early 2026.

St. Louis is the site of another key operation for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. It is opening an unclassified innovation center in a downtown tech business incubator.

A new startup venture in St. Louis will soon begin accepting applications for entrepreneurs interested in working with the federal agency.

This story was updated at 1 p.m. with comments from local leadersLocal and state leaders on Tuesday heralded construction of the National…