Cortex, facing unprecedented challenges, plots new course. ‘This is an evolution,’ says chief.

ST. LOUIS — The Cortex Innovation Community, a $2 billion economic engine for the region, has garnered national prestige and ignited urban renewal the city’s core had not seen in nearly a century.

But the district, now in its 20th year, is facing some of its toughest challenges to date with millions of dollars in lost revenue, slowed development and pandemic-wrought uncertainty over whether tenants will return to Cortex, which houses dozens of offices and laboratories.