See inside Gateway Studios in Chesterfield, where superstars like Bad Bunny rehearse

By St. Louis Post Dispatch

CHESTERFIELD — The concrete and steel walls are covered with long black curtains. Bright lights shoot down from 80-foot ceilings. The room extends 300 feet long and 175 feet wide, the size of an NFL football field without the end zones.

It is soundproof. And has no echo.

Studio 80 is the largest of three rehearsal spaces at Gateway Studios & Production Services, a series of giant black and gray boxes in Chesterfield just south of Interstate 64, almost at the Missouri River.

The 300,000-square-foot, $150 million facility is designed as rehearsal and design space for music’s biggest stars as they prepare for stadium-sized tours. It is unique in the Midwest, industry insiders say.

And until the studio invited the Post-Dispatch inside for a tour, its interior has been kept essentially secret to the public, visited only by production crews, staffers — and stars.

Artists can find similar facilities on the coasts and in the country's biggest cities. But there's nothing like it in the central states, said Tim O’Donnell, a developer for TJO Holdings, who builds production studios for the music and film industry in the region.

“I haven't seen anything like it,” O’Donnell said.

It hasn't been an easy opening. Gateway Studios has struggled financially, lost its first CEO and been sued multiple times over the project.

But now clientele have arrived. Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, R&B chart-topper Chris Brown and multi-Grammy winner Usher have all rehearsed at Gateway since its opening in March.

Jermaine Tardy, known as DJ Fresh, worked at Gateway on Brown and Usher's “R&B Tour,” set to arrive in St. Louis on Tuesday.

“We're accustomed to things of that size, but for that building to be new and for us to be one of the first people to rehearse in there, that was the amazing part,” said Tardy.

Officials in St. Louis County bid for the project, and they said they bested Nashville and Atlanta in landing it. They are bullish on the facility's economic potential.

“We have a rich music history here, and this facility will enhance our national reputation as a music town,” County Executive Sam Page said in a statement. “My staff is already predicting — hoping — Taylor Swift will be stopping in to rehearse for her next tour.”

For David Haskell, Gateway's president of business development, the facility shines a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes forces that bring large-scale tour productions to life.

“For that one person standing on the stage, there are 400 people that are working to support that one person,” Haskell said. “Most people have no clue about the complexity of the productions now.”

'Huge opportunity,' then a stumble

The facility, at Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard and Chesterfield Airport Road, garnered broad support from state and local officials when pitched five years ago.

It received a list of public incentives, including as much as $130 million in tax-free bonds from St. Louis County plus a new state tax credit for rehearsal and tour expenses equal to 30% of the cost.

St. Louis County Council Vice Chair Mark Harder, who carried the tax incentive bill at the County Council, said the private Spirit of St. Louis Airport was a key selling point in Chesterfield winning the bid for the facility over Atlanta and Nashville.

“None of the other locations had an airport that close to the facility so that these entertainers could fly in, rehearse, jump on a golf cart and fly out on the same day or next day,” Harder said.

Gateway's groundbreaking in 2021 brought out top politicians, including then-Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Page, who touted Gateway Studios as a “huge opportunity,” expected to stimulate other jobs and investment in the region.

Gateway officials said the facility would open in 2023.

But over the next few years, as construction progressed, Gateway began to run into trouble.

In June 2024, Rock Hill-based general contractor Arco Construction ordered crews to stop working at the site. Arco alleged Gateway had not made payments and said it wasn't sure the company had the money to do so.

Gateway's then-CEO Trey Kerr shot back, saying full funding for construction had been in place since the project began and payment delays were due to Arco failing to submit paperwork in time. 

By 2025, Gateway had fired Arco and hired a second company, A.J. Brown Inc. Court documents then showed Gateway still owed $6.9 million to Arco and subcontractor Vee-Jay Cement.

Arco sued. Several subcontractors filed liens against Gateway to try to get paid. And, this spring, Earth City-based Charles E. Jarrell Contracting Co., another Arco subcontractor, filed suit, too, alleging it hadn't been paid more than $840,000. 

In May, the company removed Kerr as CEO.

Haskell, in interviews for this story, said he couldn't discuss Kerr's removal or the lawsuits. But he sent a statement from the company's board.

It said the legal challenges “are all a result of issues surrounding our dismissal of our original design builder on the project,” and that the matter is “being resolved pursuant to the contractually required dispute resolution provisions.”

“Designing and constructing a truly world-class facility sets a high bar for all of those involved,” the statement said.

What it looks like inside

Gateway Studios’ three rehearsal areas each house dressing rooms, production offices for touring staff, a cafeteria, a laundry room and a kitchen. Studio 80 is home to the main kitchen, which supplies all studio guests with three catered meals every day during their stay. The building’s second floor provides aerial views of a grassy, central courtyard with 25,000 square feet of outdoor space.  

The interior hallway walls are covered with black paint and giant murals by local artist Phil Jarvis. Other walls are lined with framed photographs of colorful panoramas from the Paint Louis graffiti festival walls on Mural Mile, along the riverfront in downtown St. Louis.

The studio employs about 80 people in customer service, set design, meal prep, lighting and audio, among other services, General Manager Guido Batista said.

Batista, who left his hometown of Boston to pursue a career in tour production, said Gateway is opening doors for local professionals in fields from stage production to emerging technologies.

Each studio, for instance, contains software that allows staff to create 3D renderings of stage designs, lighting and audio before rehearsals even begin.

“We've seen it firsthand where some younger people have gotten opportunities,” Batista said. “We've watched them grow as professional stagehands, and now they're learning more about the industry.”

There are also opportunities for local contractors, he said. His staff, for instance, connected Brown and Usher’s camp with seamstresses and tailors to modify costumes.

St. Louis fashion designer Brandin Vaughn worked as head tailor for Brown and Usher’s tour. Vaughn, who also has worked with music superstars like the Isley Brothers, Beyonce and Nelly, spent two weeks at the Chesterfield facility. He said Gateway Studios is a dream for St. Louis music-industry professionals.

“For a long time, I had to go away to do work,” Vaughn said. “I had to go away on tour to find the success that I needed, but it’s such a blessing to be able to just drive out to Chesterfield and work on a production of this level.”

Vaughn said he helped eight local craftspeople land jobs on the pre-tour costuming crew.

“It opened up an opportunity for me to be an ambassador and appoint people to work in that field who always dreamed about (it),” he said.

In just the last month, Gateway Studios has welcomed multiple new clients, including Billboard-charting rock band Shinedown and Colombian popstar Karol G.

Haskell, Gateway's development chief, said the studio is attracting clientele through marketing, previous relationships and word of mouth as they weave a new stitch into St. Louis’ entertainment fabric.

It's been a lot of work and struggle, he acknowledged.

“All of us who have worked, put our lives and our souls in this — it's culminated,” he said. “Here we are, and it's working.”