What Seneca does

Seneca CRE (legal name Seneca CRE LLC; formerly ChapmanVentures) is a privately held commercial real estate development firm founded in 2019 by Larry Chapman and headquartered at 1401 South Brentwood, Suite 625, St. Louis, Missouri. The firm orchestrates commercial real estate projects end-to-end, from land acquisition and master planning through design coordination, construction management, and tenant buildouts, and is distinguished by its community-first development approach, use of complex public-private financing structures such as Opportunity Zone Funds, TIF, Chapter 100 leases, and tax credits, and an "open-book" transparency model with partners and lenders. Its active project portfolio spans Class A office (Edge@West, EDGE@BRDG), mixed-use retail (Market at Olive, Affton Plaza), entertainment venues (9 Mile Garden, Frankie Martin's Garden, K9 Garden), adaptive-reuse industrial (Evan Yards), life-sciences/ag-tech (20 Research Park), a 450-acre Georgia industrial park, and the announced Delmar Divine affordable-housing conversion of the historic 1904 St. Luke's Hospital.

The firm's revenue is generated primarily through development fees from overseeing projects, recurring leasing income on owned or master-leased assets (Edge@West reported 82-86% lease rates), and one-time proceeds from property development and sale, with anchor tenants including Costco Wholesale (Market at Olive), FM Global (Edge@West), and Benson Hill (EDGE@BRDG), alongside a diversified retail lineup (Panera, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, First Watch, Chase Bank). Go-to-market is direct and enterprise-oriented: the firm engages municipalities for public-private partnerships, cultivates long-standing relationships with capital partners (Clayco, CRG, Bank of Washington, Enterprise Bank & Trust, Larson Capital Management, US Logistics Fund), and structures co-development agreements with operating partners. Operating headcount is lean at 8-9 leadership team members, with Chapman serving as President & CEO alongside Principal Tom Mohan and Senior Vice President Richard Moon.

Customers and partners span corporate office users, retail tenants, multi-family developers, municipalities, industrial/ag-tech companies, and capital providers; competitive differentiation rests on Chapman's 44-year track record (stated $20+ billion across 148 buildings and 34 business parks), the firm's ability to structure complex financings, and a stated willingness to take on "complex projects others avoid" — supported by St. Louis Business Journal awards in 2021 (Building St. Louis, Private Project Under $10M for 9 Mile Garden) and 2022 (Commercial Real Estate Awards, Best New Development for Edge@West). The firm does not disclose revenue, has no disclosed institutional investors, and operates as a Missouri LLC with no subsidiaries.

Name

Seneca

Legal name

Seneca CRE LLC

Website

https://seneca-cre.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Seneca CRE is a St. Louis-based commercial real estate development firm founded in 2019 that orchestrates office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, and entertainment projects across Missouri and Georgia, serving corporate tenants, retailers, municipalities, and ag-tech companies through public-private partnerships and complex financing structures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Development

SIC

Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Real Estate Asset Management (BPAJAMAB)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate development
• Mixed-use property development
• Public-private partnerships
• Project management services
• Land acquisition development

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Development Fees: Fees earned from overseeing real estate development projects from land acquisition through project completion, including design coordination, construction management, and tenant buildouts.
2. Property Development and Sales: Developing commercial properties including office buildings, retail centers, multi-family developments, and entertainment venues for sale or long-term ownership.
3. Leasing Revenue: Generating income from leasing office and commercial space in developed properties such as Edge@West, Edge@BRDG, and Market at Olive.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Seneca CRE is a commercial real estate development firm that orchestrates projects from land acquisition through completion, coordinating architects, engineers, and contractors. The company develops Class A office buildings, mixed-use retail centers, entertainment venues, multi-family housing, and industrial facilities, often through public-private partnerships and complex financing structures.

Product overview

Seneca CRE is a real estate development firm offering a portfolio of distinct property development projects rather than a unified software platform. The company's offerings span commercial developments (Market at Olive, Affton Plaza, Locust Grove), Class A office buildings (Edge@West, EDGE@BRDG, 20 Research Park), entertainment venues (9 Mile Garden, Frankie Martin's Garden, K9 Garden), and mixed-use projects (Delmar Divine). Services include land acquisition, master planning, public-private partnerships, and project financing. The company operates as a turnkey developer orchestrating projects from concept through completion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Market at Olive A mixed-use commercial development in University City, Missouri spanning approximately 50 acres along Olive Boulevard, anchored by a 160,430 sq.ft. Costco Wholesale store and featuring multiple retail buildings with restaurants and shops including Panera Bread, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, First Watch, and Chase Bank.
• 9 Mile Garden Missouri's first food truck garden entertainment venue in Affton, featuring rotating food trucks, live music, outdoor events, and The Canteen bar area; a $4.5 million investment creating 16 jobs.
• Frankie Martin's Garden A food truck garden and entertainment venue in Cottleville, Missouri featuring food trucks, pickleball courts, an outdoor beer pavilion, and a whiskey and wine bar in a historic home.
• Edge@West A four-story, 125,000 sq.ft. Class A wellness-focused office building in Creve Coeur, Missouri, featuring collaboration zones, fitness facilities, outdoor amenities, and touchless features; anchors include FM Global and Edison Spaces.
• EDGE@BRDG A 160,000 sq.ft. lab and office facility on the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center campus in Creve Coeur, serving as headquarters for Benson Hill, an agricultural technology company, with modern amenities and collaborative workspaces.
• Delmar Divine Renovation of the historic St. Luke's Hospital (built 1904) into affordable housing for essential workers and collaborative office space for nonprofits in St. Louis, addressing the 'Delmar divide.'
• Affton Plaza A $10 million overhaul of a 67,520 sq.ft. retail hub in Affton, Missouri, featuring multiple tenant buildings and community-focused redevelopment.
• Evan Yards An adaptive reuse development of three buildings across 20 acres in Cool Valley, Missouri, offering 260,000 sq.ft. of leasable industrial and storage space near Lambert Airport.
• 20 Research Park A LEED Platinum-certified office and life sciences laboratory building in Weldon Spring, Missouri, being reimagined as an ag-tech incubator with greenhouses and modernized labs.
• Locust Grove, GA (The Cubes at Locust Grove) A 450-acre land development in Locust Grove, Georgia, including manufacturing facilities for Renewal by Andersen, a CarMax processing center, and a 500,000 sq.ft. distribution center.
• K9 Garden A pet emporium concept in St. Louis combining a sports bar, pet retail shop, grooming services, and dog park activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 9 Mile Garden created 16 jobs with $4.5M investment
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Brian Hardesty / Guerrilla Street FoodcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership with Guerrilla Street Food co-founder Brian Hardesty to develop food truck garden entertainment venues. Created 9 Mile Garden (Affton) and Frankie Martin's Garden (Cottleville) - Missouri's first food truck gardens.
• Clayco, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with construction firm Clayco and its CEO Bob Clark. Jointly developed multiple major projects including Edge@BRDG (design builder), Market at Olive, and Delmar Divine (general contractor). Partnership spans over 31 years of collaborative projects.
• CRG (Clayco Real Estate Group)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with CRG for commercial real estate development projects. Larry Chapman is also a partner at CRG. Jointly developing projects including Locust Grove, GA and Market at Olive.
• Lamar Johnson CollaborativecoreTechnology or IntegrationArchitect of record for multiple Seneca projects including Edge@West, Edge@BRDG, 9 Mile Garden, and Affton Plaza. Provides architectural design and interior design services.
• Donald Danforth Plant Science CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Danforth Center for Edge@BRDG project located on their campus in Creve Coeur. Enables ag-tech ecosystem development in 39 North innovation district.
• David Hutkin / Hutkin PropertiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCapital partner in Market at Olive development alongside Larry Chapman and Bob Clark. Provides investment capital and strategic guidance.
• Caroline SaundersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer general counsel of CRG serving as partner and counsel for Market at Olive development. Brings legal and real estate expertise to partnership.
• Stock & AssociatessupportingTechnology or IntegrationCivil engineering partner for multiple Seneca projects including Edge@West, EDGE@BRDG, Evan Yards, and Frankie Martin's Garden.
• Edin CoralicsupportingTechnology or IntegrationArchitect for Delmar Divine project alongside Lamar Johnson Collaborative, contributing to historic renovation design.
• BEX ConstructionsupportingTechnology or IntegrationContractor for 9 Mile Garden expansion project. Also serves as general contractor for Affton Plaza redevelopment.
• Kolb Grading LLCsupportingTechnology or IntegrationCo-owner of Frankie Martin's Garden development alongside Seneca and Brian Hardesty. Provides site work and grading services.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle): Global commercial real estate services and investment firm with a substantial US development and project-management practice. Competes with Seneca for corporate-office build-to-suit mandates, particularly from large enterprise tenants such as FM Global.
• Trammell Crow Company: One of the largest US commercial real estate developers (now part of CBRE), active across office, industrial, and mixed-use asset classes. Compared to Seneca, Trammell Crow operates at much greater scale and capital depth, but competes for the same enterprise tenant relationships and large-tract redevelopment mandates.
• Hillwood: Major US private real estate developer (Ross Perot Jr.) with a large industrial, office, and mixed-use portfolio. Comparable in product category to Seneca, especially around large industrial/logistics builds like Locust Grove, GA, but vastly larger in scale and capital base.

Direct peers

• McCormack Baron: St. Louis–headquartered urban real estate developer specializing in mixed-income housing and community revitalization; Delmar Divine (Seneca's affordable-housing P3) puts the two firms in direct comparison for nonprofit- and government-backed urban-revitalization mandates.
• Sansone Group: Privately held St. Louis commercial real estate developer and investor with a comparable portfolio across office, retail, industrial, and redevelopment projects. Operates with a similar relationship-led, owner-developer model targeting the same Missouri submarkets as Seneca.
• Balke Brown Associates: St. Louis–based commercial real estate firm focused on development, investment, and management of office, retail, and mixed-use properties. Operates with a similar regional, relationship-driven model in submarkets where Seneca is also active.
• The Koman Group: St. Louis–based commercial real estate developer active across office, industrial, retail, and mixed-use projects in the same metro as Seneca, with a similar mid-market, relationship-driven deal model. Direct overlap in target submarkets like Creve Coeur and the broader St. Louis MSA.
• CRG (Clayco Real Estate Group): Clayco's sister real estate development arm and Seneca's most deeply linked peer: Larry Chapman is also a partner at CRG, the two firms co-develop Market at Olive and Locust Grove, GA, and they compete head-to-head for St. Louis–region mixed-use and industrial deals. Their product type, geographic focus, and capital-partner profile are closely aligned.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Seneca