MINNEAPOLIS — Merchant & Gould, a full-service intellectual property law firm, has unveiled plans to relocate its Minneapolis office from the IDS Center to Fifth Street Towers. The firm will occupy 40,246 square feet on the 21st and 22nd floors beginning in August 2019. Paul Donovan, Jaclyn May and Jeremy Striffler of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Jennifer Stumm of Cushman & Wakefield will oversee the buildout of the space on the client’s behalf.
MINNEAPOLIS — PCCP has provided a $44.8 million senior loan for the development of 1400 Nicollet Avenue, a proposed 231-unit apartment project in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. Reuter Walton Development is developing the project, which will include 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 170 parking spaces. Approximately 80 percent of the units will be priced between $1,200 and $1,800 per month. Amenities will include a tenant lounge, clubroom, game room, fitness center, pet spa, bike storage and repair center, rooftop deck and pool. A timeline for construction was not disclosed.
MINNEAPOLIS — TE Miller and Solhem Cos. have sold a three-property multifamily portfolio in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis for an undisclosed price. The properties, which total 308 units, include Nolo Flats, Solhavn and Soltva. Constructed in 2012, Soltva offers six floors of apartments over underground parking at 701 N. Second St. The 100-unit building includes a mix of units averaging 762 square feet. The neighboring Solhavn apartments at 815 N. Second St. were constructed in 2013. The building is comprised of 137 units with an average unit size of 773 square feet. Built in 2016, Nolo Flats is located at 602 N. First St. The seven-story building includes 71 apartments with an average unit size of 505 square feet. Keith Collins, Abe Appert, Ted Abramson and Ike Hoffman of CBRE represented the sellers. An institutional real estate investment manager purchased the portfolio.
PLYMOUTH, MINN. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 124,181-square-foot industrial property net leased to Allied Building Products in Plymouth for $8.2 million. The property, located at 9800 13th Ave., includes an on-site fueling station and nearly 10 acres of outdoor storage space that is paved and fenced. Allied Building Products is a distributor of roofing, siding, waterproofing, interior products, windows, skylights, doors and tools for the residential, commercial and industrial building industries. Sean O’Brien and John Godwin of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. O’Brien secured the buyer, a real estate investment trust.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Opus Group has completed 365 Nicollet, a 30-story apartment building in the heart of downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall. The 370-unit property includes 9,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. Floor plans range from 520 to 3,000 square feet and units include floor-to-celling windows with quartz countertops. Amenities include an outdoor pool, yoga studio, outdoor theater, clubroom, penthouse lounge, concierge services and bike storage. The Excelsior Group is responsible for the management and lease-up of the property. Monthly rents start at $1,490.
MINNEAPOLIS — Alliant Credit Union has provided a $23 million loan for the refinancing of The Hewing Hotel in the North Loop market of Minneapolis. The 124-room boutique hotel features a restaurant called Tullibee as well as a rooftop, social club and ballroom. Ben Greazel of NKF Capital arranged the four-year loan. The borrower was not disclosed.
The most active commercial real estate category in the Twin Cities metro area over the last several years, in terms of leasing activity and new construction sales, has been industrial product. New construction has been trending toward office warehouse and bulk buildings with higher clear heights, as tenants are implementing new racking systems and growing upward to optimize their space. On the surface, this trend may sound like it will leave behind the lower-clear height flex and office showroom buildings. However, owners of flex and office showroom buildings in Minneapolis-St. Paul are finding new interest by providing creative amenities and repositioning assets that are attracting entirely new tenant prospect types and reinventing what an office showroom building can become. The ability to target a wider potential prospect pool including office users, retailers and non-traditional industrial users is reliant on proper vacancy preparation to be able to show the space as a true blank slate. Through white-boxing the space, owners show that the space has high ceilings with an industrial feel, an aesthetic that many office users are interested in, but at a significantly lower price point versus many office buildings. Another benefit of the office showroom product is that there …
WILLMAR, MINN. — Montecito Medical has purchased a Class A medical office building totaling 31,775 square feet in Willmar, a city in southwestern Minnesota. The purchase price was not disclosed. The building was constructed in 2005 as a build-to-suit for Fischer Laser Eye Center and Janning ENT. The facility includes an 8,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center where patients can receive LASIK, cataract, cornea and refractive procedures. Newmark Knight Frank brokered the sale. The seller was not disclosed.
COTTAGE GROVE, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has completed the construction of Oltman Middle School in Cottage Grove. The $50 million school opened to students this month and replaces the former school in St. Paul Park. The facility can currently accommodate as many as 1,100 students in grades 6-8 with future expansion capabilities for as many as 1,450 students. Each grade level is housed in its own two-story section of the building. Designed by architects Rego + Youngquist, the 188,000-square-foot building includes new classrooms, a media center, state-of-the-art auditorium and performing arts center, pool, music suite, gym, fitness center, locker rooms, cafeteria, kitchen and administrative space.
Like several other markets across the country, the Twin Cities is experiencing the peak of the post-recession construction cycle. However, the traditionally tight multifamily market is in one of the best positions to absorb new units. In fact, Minneapolis-St. Paul has consistently reported one of the lowest vacancy rates in the nation due to a strong economic base and pent up demand for new units. Metro Minneapolis is the second-largest economic center in the Midwest and the local economy has grown at an average of 3 percent over the past five years, a healthy rate in the Midwest. The 18 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the area are a significant driver of job growth and rental demand, along with the hundreds of support firms. As a result, the unemployment rate is below 3 percent and among the lowest in the nation. Despite a lack of available talent, employers managed to create 30,600 jobs in the year-long period ending in the second quarter. Overall, payrolls expanded by 1.5 percent during that time. Employment growth is encouraging development across several sectors in the market. In South Minneapolis, construction along the Blue Line is taking shape as $300 million in projects are coming …