Local construction companies are finally seeing signs of economic recovery in both the national and St. Louis market.  Clayco is working on two million square feet of construction projects in the St. Louis area, including the Missouri Baptist West Pavilion and the recently completed BJC’s Clinical Learning Institute, a nursing school also located on the Missouri Baptist Town & Country campus.

The St. Louis Construction News reports that construction companies and architects should be seeing new business as out of town retailers move into the St. Louis region to occupy stores left vacant by the closing of Borders, Linens & Things and Circuit City. Remodeling old buildings for new retailers is less expensive—and there have been plenty of vacancies in St. Louis County to fill.

Experts also expect to see growth in outlet stores as competitors respond to the expansion of Nordstrom Rack. Manchester will soon see the opening of its Nordstrom Rack at Manchester Highlands, the second such store in the metro area, which will fill the remaining vacancy in Manchester Highlands shopping plaza.

Overall, the construction market stabilized in 2011, according to a report in the St. Louis Business Journal. There was a 45 percent drop in construction activity from 2008 to 2010, but now the industry is slowly growing.

Not all construction jobs in the area are for major projects. Manchester is buzzing with smaller retail projects, like a new NAPA Auto Parts store near Office Depot, the remodeling of retail space for St. Louis based Sushi Ai, and even the remodeling of Kowal’s Photography on Manchester.

Kowal’s Photography, which currently sports an ugly plywood board on it's front window, was damaged by a car that struck the building in December. Staff at the studio say they aren’t just repairing their building, but improving it. The damaged area included a portrait seating area which they are remodeling to include the “latest and greatest” studio equipment for their bridal and family portrait customers. They plan to have the renovations completed by March, in time for bridal season.

On the Horizon:

• Missouri Baptist Medical Center announced the opening of the Goldfarb School of Nursing this week, located on their Town and Country campus. The nursing school is expected to graduate 100 nurses a year.

• Retail industry sales expected to rise, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF released a forecast predicting that retail sales will grow 3.4 percent in 2012, which is lower than the 4.7 percent growth seen in 2011.