ST. LOUIS— The recovery of the auto industry has helped drive strong demand in the region, and after a tremendous 2015, the new year is also off to a great start. TRiSTAR Properties has begun development of an additional two speculative distribution centers totaling 1.13 million square feet at Gateway Commerce Center , a 2,300-acre logistics and bulk distribution park outside Edwardsville, IL in the Metro East submarket. TRiSTAR will once again team up with PCCP, LLC a national real estate finance company and its usual partner here, to fund the $49 million project. TRiSTAR president Michael Towerman estimates that 5,500 people already work at Gateway and when leased the buildings should produce another 500 jobs. The metro region recorded net occupancy gains of 463,000 square feet in the fourth quarter alone, closing 2015 with a total of 2.28 million square feet of positive absorption, according to Cushman & Wakefield . Developers have taken note of these strong numbers, and have launched a number of projects to close the gap between supply and demand. TRiSTAR will build one of its new structures, Gateway East 618, on a 53-acre site. It will total 618,450 square feet and feature 36' clear-height ceilings, still a rare find in the region. The other building, called Gateway East 513 , will have 513,760 square feet on a 46-acre site and feature a 32' clear height ceiling. Each building could eventually be expanded to more than 1,000,000 square feet. According to Ed Lampitt , managing director of the St. Louis office of Cushman Wakefield , the exclusive leasing agent for Gateway, TRiSTAR will have the 618 building ready for occupancy in late summer, 2016 and the 513 building later in the fall. Once completed, TRiSTAR and PCCP will have developed four distribution buildings at Gateway in just two years. In 2014, the duo teamed to develop a 673,137-square-foot distribution center occupied in May, 2015 by Saddle Creek Corp ., a 3PL. The $26 million structure was the first speculative industrial building constructed in the St. Louis region since 2007. Next, they completed a $36 million, 717,060-square-foot center on a 56-acre site at Gateway. According to Lampitt, while a tenant has not yet occupied the building, lease negotiations are on-going. “Gateway Commerce Center is widely acknowledged as one of the leading distribution parks in the Midwest,” says Lampitt. “With 15 bulk buildings containing nearly 11 million square feet under roof, it is a development in which the St. Louis region can take great pride. Our rationale in beginning a pair of buildings simultaneously is to cut a broad swath in the marketplace. We want to offer prospective national tenants a choice – and an excellent match – in their pursuit of highly efficient and expandable bulk space configurations.” TRiSTAR's St. Louis-based project team for the buildings include Contegra Construction , general contractor; Gray Design Group , architect; and civil engineer Stock & Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc.