Blackline Design + Construction Breaks Ground on 18,000-Square-Foot Research Facility for EpiCrop Technologies

ST. LOUIS, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking a major development in St. Louis' AgTech landscape, a collaborative St. Louis-based team recently broke ground on the EpiCrop Research Facility. The 18,000-square-foot space will be home to EpiCrop Technologies, a division of EpiMethyl Analytics company, which uses cutting-edge strategies to increase plant yields by reprogramming the gene pathways that guide crop performance. Award-winning design-build firm Blackline Design + Construction is serving as both the architect and general contractor for the project.

The EpiCrop Research Facility represents a strong collaboration of St. Louis companies. In addition to Blackline, the other key partners on the project are Darwin Chambers (a company providing custom environmental chambers that offer precise control of temperature, humidity, gas, and lighting) and VividVerde (a consulting firm specializing in the development and operation of controlled-environment growing facilities).

"At EpiCrop, our mission is to maximize plant yield potential and resilience in order to provide abundant crops and food, and we wanted to do this work in a region that shares our excitement about the incredible potential in the crop sciences," said Dr. Sally Mackenzie, co-founder of EpiCrop. "Thanks to the expertise and passion of partners like Blackline, we know that this facility will be constructed with the utmost care, precision, and sense of collaboration." 

Mackenzie, previously Huck Endowed Chair Professor at Penn State, co-founded EpiCrop in 2014 alongside University of Nebraska professor Dr. Michael Fromm and former Microsoft and Gates Foundation executive and investor Jeff Raikes. The group chose St. Louis as the new headquarters for their fast-growing company, citing the region's stellar reputation as both an entrepreneurial hub and an AgTech epicenter.

"We're honored to help make EpiCrop's vision a reality and to work alongside other firms who share our enthusiasm for St. Louis' AgTech ecosystem," said Blackline co-founder Michael Schwartz. "Designing and building a controlled growth environment for an agricultural technology firm pushing the boundaries of plant science required a rare blend of precision, adaptability, and deep technical knowledge. Balancing the demands of advanced building systems with the client's need for a cutting-edge research environment challenged every aspect of our design and construction team."

In addition to ten growth chambers, the EpiCrop Research Facility will house lab / research space, a headhouse, fertigation space, offices, a conference facility, data and computation facilities, and coworking spaces for other experts who come in to work on EpiCrop concepts. The investment is a win for plant science and for the St. Louis region, which over the past decade has become a highly desirable location for AgTech companies.

"Being based in the heart of St. Louis — a region rapidly emerging as a hub for plant science innovation — makes this partnership especially meaningful," said Krissie McGrath, executive vice president of Darwin Chambers. "Together, we are developing a next-generation plant growth chamber, and we believe this collaboration will set a new benchmark for controlled environment research."

"We all share a collaborative drive for growth and forward-thinking work," Blackline co-founder Mark Groenda added. "Working with the experts at Darwin Chambers and VividVerde, we engineered the complex requirements of the space to meet EpiCrop's demanding goals while respecting the constraints of both budget and schedule. This project exemplifies the kind of integrated expertise that sets our firm apart — we're proud to deliver a facility that supports breakthrough innovation in crop performance."

The EpiCrop Research Facility is slated to open in December 2025.

To learn more about Blackline Design + Construction, please visit www.blacklinestl.com.

SOURCE Blackline Design + Construction