SUNSET HILLS, Mo. — Panera Bread Co. is moving its headquarters from Sunset Hills to Fenton.
The national bakery-cafe, with more than 2,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada, is moving to The 1400 Building on the Maritz campus at 1400 S. Highway Drive along Interstate 44 in Fenton. That is 4 miles from Panera’s current headquarters at 3630 S. Geyer Road in Sunset Hills.
The move, targeted for mid-2023 after the space is renovated for Panera, will downsize the company’s space from about 150,000 square feet on four floors to two floors with 72,000 square feet, giving employees a more modern office space with access to the building’s shared amenities that were originally built for Maritz, leasing agent Steve Schmid of Avison Young said.
The bakery chain’s 650 corporate employees currently based in Sunset Hills operate in a hybrid work model that has reduced their need for traditional office space, according to a news release.
The company has been based in St. Louis since 1987 and started as St. Louis Bread Co., a name it has kept for many of its local stores. It moved to Sunset Hills in 2010, in space formerly occupied by Anheuser-Busch, from office locations in Richmond Heights and Brentwood.
“They’re making a sizable investment to energize their employees and create the right environment during and post-Covid, so this is a great opportunity for them to rethink their workspace,” Schmid said.
Panera, which will become the largest tenant of The 1400 Building, and other tenants there including Ricoh, 8th Avenue Foods and Safeco, will share amenities that were originally intended to serve workers of event marketer Maritz, one of St. Louis’ largest companies, before Maritz pivoted to lease the space as a multitenant office building, Schmid said.
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal's website.
