Downtown Minneapolis Office Market

[uptownbro]

I know they added an extra "week" to there HQ event but that was announced months ago. Did your contacts give any details

[BikesOnFilm]

Well, it finally happened - City Center owner defaults on their loan.

Hopefully we can speed run the obligatory "Downtown Minneapolis is doomed" news cycle this time around and skip to the part where a local group of investors buys the property for a song and uses the savings to lower lease rates and commit to a property turnaround/modernization the underwater owners were never going to even attempt.

[Silophant]

Hopefully Hempl still has $15M or so of free cash floating around their bank account.

[twincitizen]

The entire 3rd floor of Gaviidae Common can be yours for just $2.6 million: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/651-Nic ... /31643272/

Edit: yep, it's the former offices of United Properties.

[BikesOnFilm]

Am I the odd one out for only just hearing the phrase "office condo" for the first time, or is this an unusual way to structure the ownership of office space?

[amiller92]

The entire 3rd floor of Gaviidae Common can be yours for just $2.6 million: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/651-Nic ... /31643272/

Former United Properties space, right?

[minntransplant]

Am I the odd one out for only just hearing the phrase "office condo" for the first time, or is this an unusual way to structure the ownership of office space?

I don't think it's very common. The only recent example I'm aware of is the building that's under construction at Nicollet and 31st (replacing the burned down Wells Fargo). It will include commercial condos on the ground floor. Afro Deli will be one of the condo owners. It seems like a nice model that helps small businesses own their space and build wealth over time.

[Blaisdell Greenway]

Office condos appear to be more common in the suburbs, especially among drive up strip mall style developments
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1701-17 ... /35582008/

[Silophant]

The ground and skyway levels of The Crossings, at 2nd and Washington, are commercial condos. I've assumed that's what's led to the more interesting business mix (electrical contractor, Oromo TV studio, etc) than the average downtown tower has.

[uptownbro]

Target is calling back to office workers of multiple divisions. Little details per the Star tribune outside of "multiple" days per week.

[BikesOnFilm]

Disappointing for the workers who demonstrated that companies could be far more efficient focusing on outcomes versus making sure people were sitting in an arbitrary spot for arbitrary reasons, and I will laugh in the face of anyone who thinks this will have any effect towards repairing Target's self-inflicted woes as of late, but it's surely going to be good news for downtown and Metro Transit.

[COLSLAW5]

Disappointing for the workers who demonstrated that companies could be far more efficient focusing on outcomes versus making sure people were sitting in an arbitrary spot for arbitrary reasons, and I will laugh in the face of anyone who thinks this will have any effect towards repairing Target's self-inflicted woes as of late, but it's surely going to be good news for downtown and Metro Transit.

I am not going to say that every job should be in the office 5 days a week but to say that target has demonstrated they can be more efficient at home is just not true. Long before their fumble with the DEI roll back they have been floundering while Walmart is growing. Many jobs work better when you can run into someone from another team and have a quick chat or treat your coworkers better because you are not sitting behind a screen. Your job pays you for the small talk because that is how you develop new ideas and refine processes. That is something that just can't be full recreated through a video call. We are constantly losing places to interact with people who are different from us like the mall or a local coffee shop and not losing the workplace is good.

Also if your job can be done remote in America it can be done remote in India for half the cost.

Sorry rant over

[BikesOnFilm]

Does it make more sense that Target is losing marketshare to Walmart because people aren't sitting in cubes and meeting rooms, or because the average American's paycheck has remained stagnant while the cost of everything has increased substantially? The entire market position of Target has been "pay a bit more to avoid having to go to Walmart." If budgets are tighter, aesthetics take a backseat to value.

Like there are arguments to be made for in-person work versus remote but you're never going to convince me that a buyer who spends all day on the phone with third party companies who aren't in your building needs to be in the HQ to be effective. If people aren't cordial to members of other teams over Slack because they aren't physically in the same building as one another, that's a personnel problem. Plenty of matrixed organizations that have teams spread out over the country have figured this out.

But again, it's good for downtown and Metro Transit, regardless of how any of us think about the actual value of it.

[Didier]

There are some strong opinions out there about remote work, and I recognize it’s definitely the best method for some people. But IMO it’s becoming pretty clear that companies run better when employees are in the office at least some of the time. It’s also a huge detriment to young employees to not have any in-person experience and relationships as they’re trying to learn the ropes and figure out what it means to be a professional at something.