About Us
The DESCO Group DESCO provides a turn-key experience to ensure ease and continuity for our clients. Our firms broad spectrum of resources allows us
DESCO stands for Don and Ed Schnuck Company, after the entrepreneurial
brothers who built the Schnuck Markets grocery chain into one of St. Louis
largest privately held companies.
Founded in 1993 and led by CEO Mark Schnuck, DESCO provides a full-service
experience including comprehensive development, construction management,
investment management, property management and brokerage services. With a creative approach to real
estate development, DESCO delivers visionary real estate solutions. This creativity has proven successful
in reaching strategic objectives and maximizing financial returns.
Our innovative development projects have touched many sectors of the real estate market,
including historic landmark renovations, regional shopping centers, medical office space, office parks
and urban/suburban renewal projects.
With a portfolio of more than 6 million square feet of buildings and $700 million in value currently
under management, DESCO also has over two million square feet under development, with projected
development costs totaling over $200 million.
NAI DESCO Commercial
In order to maximize our brokerage services, DESCO
Commercial was born in 2000. Mark Schnuck formed
the sister-company as a vehicle to engage DESCO in
third-party brokerage of office, industrial, retail and
investment properties.
Soon, DESCO Commercial was accepted into the
worldwide New America International, Inc, (NAI)
network. This membership gives NAI DESCO access
to members and service providers in over 230
offices in the United States and several key areas of
the world. NAI DESCO currently has 25 brokers
providing comprehensive commercial real
estate services.
Mark Schnuck leads this team of experienced
commercial and industrial brokers in serving the City
of St. Louis and 13 surrounding counties in Missouri
and Illinois.
DESCO Services
to deliver everything your project needs from beginning to end.
Brokerage
DESCO offers the expertise necessary to
successfully accomplish complex
transactions encompassing acquisition,
disposition, tenant representation, build-
to-suit, sale/leaseback, site evaluation,
construction management and consulting
services. Our brokerage team has the
talent and experience to take on projects
throughout the Midwest and the country.
With our strong industrial experience in
brokerage and our affiliation with NAI-
Global, we create value for our clients
through our unique industrial market
knowledge, sophisticated financial
analysis and strong negotiating skills.
Design
We will work with you to ensure that the
design matches your vision and needs.
Using skilled architects and contractors,
we bring together the operators detailed
needs so you can focus on the big picture.
Our design will take into consideration
your spatial needs both short term and
long term and will incorporate special
features that may be unique to
Anchor Packaging.
Sustainability
The DESCO Group is committed to
sustainability on all of its projects. We do
not greenwash projects with fashion-
able trends but instead focus on what
really benefits both the environment and
the bottom line. We strive to be simulta-
neously environmentally conscious and
financially responsible. Our projects
include the first USGBC LEED Gold
retail project in the Midwest as well as
one of the first CO2 operated chiller
plants in a refrigerated warehouse
anywhere in the country.
Due Diligence
We do our homework to make sure you
get the right property for your needs. By
maintaining a thorough approach to due
diligence on the front-end we protect
your investment in the long run. We
perform an investigation into environ-
mental, geotechnical, governmental,
legal and more. You can focus on your
business while we handle acquisitions,
survey and zoning matters, inspections,
governmental review, financial
considerations and closing actions.
Value Engineering
At DESCO, value engineering is NOT
about compromise or inferior construc-
tion. Its about thinking critically and
creatively to get great results for less
money. Instead of eliminating features or
reducing quality we use our experience
and ingenuity to come up with cost-
effective alternatives for all aspects of the
project from initial site selection and
design to building finishes. Successful
value engineering comes from
understanding every aspect of a project
so that we can find a solution that may
not only benefit Anchor from a
construction cost standpoint but also from
an operations ROI.
negotiation. Our flexibility and problem
Tax Incentives
What makes DESCO stand out is our
command of tax incentives. From the
local to state and to a federal level, our
wide knowledge of tax incentive
programs allows us to select the best
combination that fits your project. We
regularly deliver the most cost-effective
results that will save Anchor money in
both construction and operating. Our
recent and expansive experience with
incentives will be vital in the due
diligence and site selection phase as we
seek to be able to maximize all
financial opportunities.
Construction Management
We make sure the project stays on track
with firm but fair negotiated construc-
tion milestones and steady construction
updates to your management team. Our
interim milestone dates cover each fac-
tor of the project making it easy to track
progress and remedy as necessary. Our
Construction Management Teams
extensive experience in manufacturing
allows us to engage Anchor in critical
parts of the decision making process but
allows Anchor to stay out of the fray
and focus on operations. Problems will
arise but will be minimized thanks to our
thorough front-end planning including
contractor selection and AIA contract
solving skills allow us to handle issues
as they arise and to quickly implement a
recovery plan.
Case Study : Project Pillar

Project Pillar is a 981,000-square-foot distribution facility that services 100 Schnucks stores in five states. The expansive development
nearly doubled the size of Schnucks previous total warehouse storage capacity. The facility employs an estimated 250-280 warehouse
Location : NorthPark, City of Kinloch, Missouri
workers, 140 drivers and mechanics, and 50 management employees.
NorthPark, the 550 acre premiere business park, is located east of Lambert St. Louis International Airport near the intersection of
Size : 981,000 square-feet
two major interstates.
Cost : $118,000,000
Located on an approximately 117-acre site in NorthPark, Project Pillar includes over 400,000 square feet of refrigerated storage, which
incorporates a 28 degree meat room and wet and dry produce rooms. The facility also contains 520,000-square-feet of dry warehouse
and a battery charging area to service 211 lifts.
Other structures on site consist of office space, a guard house, dispatch area, and a truck and trailer maintenance garage along with a
truck wash, and diesel fuel islands. The project construction features tilt-up panels, insulated metal panels, and a structural steel frame.
The site was designed with future expansion in mind.

Site Selection Tax Incentives Design Sustainability

After interviewing key stakeholders, NAI Desco compiled a list
of potential sites that would meet the logistic and business needs
of Schnuck Markets. Upon further analysis, sites were then
eliminated and finally two sites were selected and put under
contract.
Due Dilgence
Once both sites were under contract and the necessary confiden-
tiality agreements were signed, DESCO performed a comprehen-
sive review of physical conditions that could impact the build-
ability of the warehouse complex. At one site, for example, it
was determined that the soil was so organic that over $1MM in
extra soil stabilization would be needed to prepare the site for
paving and building construction. Additionally, one site had a
22 gas main running through the area where a building would
be placed and DESCO successfully pre-negotiated its relocation
with the gas company to prevent project delays.
DESCO offered their client a comparison between tax incentives
available at NorthPark in St. Louis County, MO versus another
site in St. Clair County, IL.
The chosen site, NorthPark, yielded significant reduction in both
the costs of construction and operation. Thanks to DESCOs
innovative understanding of tax incentive programs, they were
able to discover alternative sources of funding for project costs.
Reduction in Cost of Construction
Sales tax exemption on construction materials
through County Bonds.
Bond financing for public or private infrastructure
through MO BUILD.
Reduction in Operating Costs
Effective 10 year 50% real property tax abatement
through County Bonds.
Effective 10 year 50% personal property tax abatement
through County Bonds.
Reduction in or rebate of withholding paid under
Missouri Works.
Tax credits issued under MO Build.
Sources of Funding Project Costs
Proceeds from sale of Super TIF Notes (assuming guaranty
of certain wages by Pillar Tenant); OR receipt of payment
on Super TIF Notes held by Pillar Tenant through 2022.
Proceeds from the sale of tax credits from Tax Credit
for Contribution.
Funding from MO Build bonds issued
(infrastructure costs).
There is a direct correlation between time and the ability to The Desco Group strives for sustainable business and construc-
influence project quality and total cost. Prioritizing design tion practices on all of its projects. At Pillar, we investigated any
upfront will pay off immensely during the project life cycle. For potentially negative environmental impacts of the project. We
example at Pillar, we challenged the space programming focused on keeping the project on track and on budget while still
information presented to us by Schnucks. As a result, we were being environmentally conscious.
able to reduce the total cubic footage of the building which
saved money in steel, fire protection and conditioning. We did The Project Team
not take the information supplied to us as a given but instead
we pushed to make sure our client was getting the best in both To produce Project Pillar, DESCO brought together a selection
of local architects and contractors to form an expert team. With
design and cost.
vigilant construction management and thorough due diligence,
DESCO kept each team member on track to deliver project
Value Engineering needs while maintaining value engineering best practices.
Industrial buildings need a lot of site work for their logistics
to operate properly. At Pillar there was a total of 116 acres of Architect and Landscape Architect : Forum
earthwork and super miles of heavy duty paving. We challenged Contractor/Developer : Clayco
the geotechnical engineer and the civil engineer to come up with
Civil Engineer : Stock and Associates
a new paving section that included more lime in the soil and a
thinner asphalt section which saved the project more than Structural Engineer : Alper Audi
$1.1MM. Mechanical Engineer : Icon Mechanical
Electrical Engineer : Kay-Bee Electric
Construction Management Plumbing Engineer : G&W Engineering
Every project will have issues arise. How such problems are Fire Protection Engineer : Ahern Fire Protection
dealt with in terms of speed of information and brainstorming is Refrigeration Engineer : Innovative Refrigeration
essential to keep monetary and schedule impacts to a minimum.
At Pillar we insisted on interim milestones in the AIA contract
with the general contractor and we base-lined their schedule with
these milestones included. After working through the wettest
June in Missouri history, we could see our late autumn milestone
dates were in jeopardy and assisted the general contractor with a
re-sequencing of the site work so that we could focus on areas
that could be constructed while the other areas dried out. Our
low-ego approach to teamwork allows for cross-team
collaboration so that everyone is ready and willing to come up
with a new plan of action.
Meet the Team
Mark Schnuck
CEO
After serving in a variety of
positions at Schnuck Markets,
Inc., Mark became senior real
estate officer in 1989. Then,
four years later, Mark took the
helm of the newly formed real
estate company, The DESCO
Group. He took a corporate real
estate department and trans-
formed it into a full-service
commercial real estate
development company.
In 2000, Mark created a
sister-company, NAI DESCO.
There he leads a team of experienced commercial and industri-
al brokers in serving the City of St. Louis and 13 surrounding
counties in Missouri and Illinois.
Mark graduated from Maryville University in 1980 with a
Bachelors degree in management and is a licensed real estate
broker in the states of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.
Franklin Sears
Vice President, Design & Construction
Franklin leads the Design &
Construction department for
The DESCO Group. Franklin
offers versatile expertise in con-
struction with a concentration in
open air shopping centers.
Prior to DESCO, Franklin was
employed by McEagle De-
velopment, a St. Louis-based
commercial developer. At
McEagle, he was integral to the
completion of the WingHav-
en planned community with
projects including land develop-
ment, senior living, hospitality, office, and retail. Franklin started
his career with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, currently Pfizer, where
he was involved in the development and construction of office,
clean room, and lab facilities.
Franklin graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Am-
herst, earned his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis,
and holds a certification as a Development Professional from the
International Council of Shopping Centers.
Scott Sachtleben
Senior Vice President of Development & General Counsel
Scott oversees and manages all
real estate development
initiatives and implementation
on behalf of The DESCO Group.
As general counsel,
he also manages the firms
legal department.
Before joining DESCO, Scott
was a shareholder at the law
firm of Greensfelder, Hemker
& Gale, P.C. in St. Louis where
he practiced for 17 years with a
focus on real estate, corporate,
and securities law.
Scott received his undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois
University Carbondale and his juris doctorate from Vanderbilt
University. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Bar
Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Arizona Bar Association,
Illinois Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association, International
Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute, and Missouri
Growth Association.
Randy Boettler
Project Executive
Randy brings years of
construction expertise to The
DESCO Group. With a client
list including Boeing, the City
of St. Louis, InBev, and Coca-
Cola, Randy has successfully
completed manufacturing and
industrial projects ranging up to
$100 million dollars.
Experienced in everything
from renovation to full design
and construction, Randy works
with DESCO to deliver value-
engineered quality on a large scale.
Randy received his Bachelor of Science in construction
management from the University of Central Missouri and
completed his graduate studies in civil engineering at
Washington University. He is certified by the Design Build
Institution of America.
Meet the Team
John Sheahan
Principal / Lead Broker
John Sheahan has been active
in commercial real estate since
1987. As a member of the
Society of Industrial and Office
Realtors, John has completed
lease and sale transactions
involving office, industrial,
retail, land and investment
properties. In his career, John
has completed over 730
transactions valued at over
$385 million dollars involving
10.6 million square feet and
308 acres.
Before coming to DESCO in 2000, John worked for the
Johnson Group, a full-service real estate firm headquartered
in St. Louis.
John graduated magna cum laude from
Washington University.
David Melnik
Senior Financial Analyst
David oversees the financing
activities of The DESCO
Groups portfolio. He is respon-
sible for debt portfolio manage-
ment, external lender relations,
on-going financial analysis and
modeling, and development
accounting and reporting for
complex projects.
Prior to joining DESCO, David
was a Senior Account Admin-
istrator specializing in Asset
and Valuation Services at NISA
Investment Advisors, based in St.
Louis. There he was responsible for performing daily derivative
mark-to-market calculations, directing and processing various cli-
ent events and optimizing clients collateral positions. Before that,
he was employed by Wells Fargo as a Senior Auditor specializing
in the wealth, brokerage and retirement lines of business.