ST. PAUL, MINN. — Wellington Management has signed an agreement to acquire the former State Farm campus in St. Paul. Known as Woodbury Corporate Campus, the 450,000-square-foot, Class A office property is located in the city's Woodbury submarket.
State Farm constructed the campus in 1996 and moved out in 2006 following company consolidation. The insurance giant had originally been seeking a tenant to lease at least half of the property's space before the chance to sell it outright came along.
“What changes now [with the property's sale] is we will be able to identify tenants in the 20,000- to 200,000-square-foot range to lease the building,” says Dan Gleason, a senior vice president with NorthMarq and one of the brokers who helped State Farm sell the property. Gleason was joined in the deal by NorthMarq brokers Tom Stella and Pete Rand, all of whom will stay on to lease the property. “We have had some interest so far from tenants in the 50,000- to 100,000-square-foot range.”
In addition to the office building, Wellington will gain an adjacent 50 acres of undeveloped land that is located at the interchange of Interstate 94 and Radio Drive. The company plans to market the space in the future for potential build-to-suit office, hotel, retail and senior housing projects.
In the near-term, the campus will be upgraded to provide Class A amenities to potential tenants. A cafeteria already exists, and Gleason mentions that Wellington will expand the building's training rooms to create a fitness center. The buyer is also exploring building underground parking spaces and adding a convenience store to the building.
Wellington Management currently owns and manages a portfolio of 88 properties in the Twin Cities area that is valued at $375 million. The addition of Woodbury Corporate Center will bring the company's management portfolio to 4.3 million square feet.
— Coleman Wood