$200 MILLION TRANSFORMATION PLANNED FOR NORTHSTAR CENTER

A massive transformation is in store for the Northstar Center in Downtown Minneapolis.

Located in Minneapolis’s Central Business District, Northstar Center today spans over 1.6 million square feet and includes three buildings with the East Office Tower (Pillsbury Building) having been constructed in 1916 and the hotel tower and West Office Tower having been constructed in 1963.

In the 1960’s, when the full development was constructed, it was often referred to as a “City Within A City” due to its truly unique and vast collection of hospitality driven offerings. Fun fact, the complex was also the birthplace of the Minneapolis Skyway System which today stretches nearly 10 miles long.

Now, a partnership between Polaris Properties Group, Taconic Capital Advisors, Wilson Street Hotel Group and Sherman Associates plan to give the Northstar Center a new life as an experiential, hospitality-forward, mixed-use ecosystem that will be truly a one-of-a-kind place for the Downtown area.

When work on the historic conversion is complete in late 2023, Northstar Center will be repositioned to include office space, retail/restaurant space, hundreds of apartments, a full-service boutique hotel, a public facing meeting and events facility, indoor parking and more.

When know you’re curious, so let’s deep dive into the details on this exciting project.

OFFICE SPACE

Polaris Properties Group & Taconic Capital Advisors are planning a nearly $70 million office and parking renovation of Northstar Center West. In total, the 17-story project will include 325,000 square feet of office space, 105,000 square feet of corporate storage space, 75,000 square feet of retail and hospitality space, and a 975-stall parking garage.

A total gut renovation of the common areas within the building will allow for the buildout of a number of curated retail and food/beverage concepts (more details on those concepts below).

Northstar Center will be Minneapolis’ first hospitality-grade office building when work is complete next year. Tenant users within the building will encounter a space and daily experience more akin to staying at a 5-star hotel than working out of a traditional office building. Services on site will include full-service concierge property management, first-class hospitality services, and even access to an in-building app that will provide tenants a multitude of services.

Northstar Center will partner with Convene, a best-in-class operating company, who will provide first-class services for tenants within Northstar Center. The company will do so by offering innovative workplace services and by activating their leading national meetings and events products, in-house culinary services, and more.

Office tenants of the building will have access to a ton of amenities… and when we say a ton, we mean a TON. Those amenities are anticipated to include the following:

• Concierge-Grade Property Management
• Corporate Skyboxes (premium office suites that are perfecting for entertaining clients)
• Conference & Meeting Facilities (250-person conference room, multiple variably sized meeting rooms, pre-function spaces, bridal suite, and a 350-person events venue)
• “Room Service” Office Catering (variety of culinary programs, including pantry stocking, catering orders and meeting F&B services)
• SkyGarden (12,000 square foot, 8^th floor sheltered outdoor terrace)
• SkyLounge (Two-story space located off the SkyGarden. 4-season environment with a full-service bar and premium hospitality staffing that is built for relaxing and entertaining clients)
• On-site Primary Care (a leading national healthcare operator will provide primary care, dental and optical services that can be integrated with corporate benefit plans).
• Café (ground-floor café that will serve barista quality beverages and fresh baked goods)
• Food Market (ground-level, quick service, curated food market)
• Doggy Day Care (offering daycare, grooming services, kennels, and recreational areas)
• Tenant-Exclusive Retail Village (located on the 7^th floor, the space will feature convenience retail including a barbershop, newsstand, dry cleaners, general store, and prepared foods market)
• Fitness Center (first class fitness will include free-weight, cardio and other fitness equipment)
• Bike Storage & Locker Room (ground floor space will include bike racks, lockers, and bike repair supplies)
• Premium Corporate Storage (multi-level, 90,000+ square feet of on-site storage space for tenants)
• 975-stall structured parking garage

Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) will be responsible for leasing office space within Northstar Center with pre-leasing currently underway.

HOTEL INDIGO

Opening in February 2023, Hotel Indigo Downtown Minneapolis will be a full-service, boutique hotel that will occupy 17 floors of space that was formerly home to the Crowne Plaza Downtown Minneapolis.

Wilson Street Hotel Group will spend nearly $25 million to reposition the hotel space to include 218 guest rooms along with expanding the ground floor presence by nearly 16,000 square feet. Amenities within the hotel will include a large lobby, Rotunda Bar, and two full-service restaurants, one of which will operated by The Bartmann Group and will be called “Star Bar & Bistro.”

The goal is for the hotel and its amenities to not only be used for independent hotel guests, but also as a space for office users within the building to host colleagues/clients and provide on-site lodging for corporate meetings and events.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Hotel Indigo brand, the company is part of IHG Hotels and Resorts which includes over 17 hotel brands such as Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and more. As of last year, the small, individually owned boutique hotel chain had over 130 hotels worldwide with one other Minnesota location in Downtown Rochester.

APARTMENTS

Last, but certainly not least, a large portion of space within Northstar Center will be converted into apartments through a nearly $85 million project.

13-stories of office space within The Pillsbury Building will be transformed into 221 mixed-income apartments. The apartment project will be developed by Minneapolis-based Sherman Associates and will include a robust amenity package, on-site parking, and generously proportioned units.

20% of the units within the project are anticipated to be offered to households earning 50% or less of the AMI (area median income). The remaining 80% of the units are not anticipated to have rent restrictions but are planned to be offered to households earning 80% to 120% of the AMI.

Work on the transformation of Northstar Center is set to begin later this year and be complete in late 2023.