Minneapolis Skyline Future (Nicollet: appointed, home, buying)

[Astron1000]

RBC Gateway at Washington & Hennepin is a bit more than halfway up its 519' final height.
This will be the US Headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada's Wealth Management Co.

On the upper floors will be a new Four Seasons Hotel and Condominiums

Photo by The Development Tracker

[Astron1000]

Other big news is that Hines Development bought one of the last remaining parking lots in Minneapolis' core at 9th & Marquette and is marketing plans for a major office building in the 600,000-700,000 sq. ft. range.
Given the plot size and depending on the design it could be anywhere from 500-700 feet tall and could have a major impact on the skyline.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

Other big news is that Hines Development bought one of the last remaining parking lots in Minneapolis' core at 9th & Marquette and is marketing plans for a major office building in the 600,000-700,000 sq. ft. range.
Given the plot size and depending on the design it could be anywhere from 500-700 feet tall and could have a major impact on the skyline.

that's awesome, thanks for sharing

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

RBC Gateway at Washington & Hennepin is a bit more than halfway up its 519' final height.
This will be the US Headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada's Wealth Management Co.

On the upper floors will be a new Four Seasons Hotel and Condominiums

Photo by The Development Tracker

Good stuff. The NIMBYs of MPLS hate to see growth and development, but as silly as it seems, a skyline tells a city's story

[Glenfield]

The outlook for downtown Minneapolis, like every central business district in the world, is dependent on the future of commercial real estate, and it’s foolish to pretend that there aren’t huge questions around the outlook for CRE. Whether or not companies continue with a significant portion of their workforce in a work from home mode will determine what the long term demand for office space and space for businesses that serve office workers looks like.

There are huge pressures to continue offering a work from home option. Not only does it present a huge opportunity for savings to the employers, but many employees enjoy the flexibility, lack of commute, and cost advantage of WFH. Major employees, such as Facebook and Amazon, are offering permanent work from home options, putting pressure on all other employers.

With ten and twenty year leases being common in CRE, none of this is going to show up right away. We can see some early indications, such as a spike in CRE delinquencies, a decline in REIT and wholesale CRE loan prices, but this will all take time to play out. Don’t let the building boom fool you— these buildings have been planned for years and it’s not economically feasible to halt a huge project. And don’t misunderstand Hines’ purchase of an empty lot. A developer like Hines buys properties that it may not build on for many years.

Downtown Minneapolis is a three legged stool of CRE, high end condos, and a weak sports/ entertainment leg. The condo market is awash in properties and a couple of billionaires buying a penthouse doesn’t offset that. The entertainment business has been shutdown by covid. There are no sports fans. Maybe these things will turn around, but no one really knows and the outlook for CRE is far from clear.

I want downtown Minneapolis to be thriving and vibrant. It is a huge revenue engine for our city and our state, but pretending that we are not at an extremely difficult juncture, not only from an economic standpoint but also due to a decline in public safety, is not going to make it all better.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

The outlook for downtown Minneapolis, like every central business district in the world, is dependent on the future of commercial real estate, and it’s foolish to pretend that there aren’t huge questions around the outlook for CRE. Whether or not companies continue with a significant portion of their workforce in a work from home mode will determine what the long term demand for office space and space for businesses that serve office workers looks like.

There are huge pressures to continue offering a work from home option. Not only does it present a huge opportunity for savings to the employers, but many employees enjoy the flexibility, lack of commute, and cost advantage of WFH. Major employees, such as Facebook and Amazon, are offering permanent work from home options, putting pressure on all other employers.

With ten and twenty year leases being common in CRE, none of this is going to show up right away. We can see some early indications, such as a spike in CRE delinquencies, a decline in REIT and wholesale CRE loan prices, but this will all take time to play out. Don’t let the building boom fool you— these buildings have been planned for years and it’s not economically feasible to halt a huge project. And don’t misunderstand Hines’ purchase of an empty lot. A developer like Hines buys properties that it may not build on for many years.

Downtown Minneapolis is a three legged stool of CRE, high end condos, and a weak sports/ entertainment leg. The condo market is awash in properties and a couple of billionaires buying a penthouse doesn’t offset that. The entertainment business has been shutdown by covid. There are no sports fans. Maybe these things will turn around, but no one really knows and the outlook for CRE is far from clear.

I want downtown Minneapolis to be thriving and vibrant. It is a huge revenue engine for our city and our state, but pretending that we are not at an extremely difficult juncture, not only from an economic standpoint but also due to a decline in public safety, is not going to make it all better.

This is one of the most cogent posts I've seen anywhere on the City-data forums or anywhere in the print media that speaks to conjecture on what we are experiencing in terms of the Covid 19 era & the era of social upheaval. And, as you would probably suspect, many of the factors you mentioned are similarly at play and issues in other core cities around the country.

I have fond memories of downtown Minneapolis because it was my first major city "playground" (for lack of a better term to describe a curious and exploring kid) as an elementary school aged visitor for our family business conventions of many years ago.
Centered as we always were at the Capp Towers Hotel at 13th and Nicolet, I was thrilled by the skyline which was then beautifully dominated by structures such as the elegant Foshay Tower, the Northwestern Bell Telephone Building, the Rand Tower, City Hall, St. Mary's Basilica & the Northwestern National Bank sign, while shopping was centered at the Dayton's & Donaldson's corner and strung along several blocks of Nicolet. The malling of that street was then but a pipedream.
I know that times have changed and so has downtown Minneapolis but those fond memories of fun and exploration there can never be taken away from me.

As such, the link below contains data on the current business growth leaders across the country, which includes Minneapolis/St. Paul, and may be a sign of good things to come for the Twin Cities and hopefully for it's 2 big core downtown areas.

https://www.stessa.com/blog/cities-w...onomic-growth/

[FriedMiltman]

Originally Posted by atler8

As such, the link below contains data on the current business growth leaders across the country, which includes Minneapolis/St. Paul, and may be a sign of good things to come for the Twin Cities and hopefully for it's 2 big core downtown areas.

https://www.stessa.com/blog/cities-w...onomic-growth/

Thanks for the link. The false-propagandists in the media have again exaggerated the continuation of the working from home phenomenon as things begin to return to normal. JLL, which is the largest commercial real estate leasing broker (See RBC Gateway Tower), has seen a strong rise in demand this year for commercial real estate by businesses in all major Cities. They’ve discovered that their employees have become less productive over time when working from home. I know, a shocker right.

[Rhody2Mn]

Originally Posted by FriedMiltman

They’ve discovered that their employees have become less productive over time when working from home. I know, a shocker right.

I'm not sure where they arrived at that conclusion, but most studies from the last year support the belief that people are equally if not more productive working at home than at the office. I have been working from home since the pandemic began and have been told I'll be going back to the office two days a week starting in September, but I am in no rush. I love working from home and actually get more done than I did at the physical job location having to listen to meaningless office gossip. I realize not all jobs can be remote, but many can and I don't understand why leaders at some companies are pushing people to return to the office when they can easily perform their job in the comfort of their home versus a cubicle. Not to mention how wonderful it is not having to deal with commuting! Long live work from home!

[wamer27]

Originally Posted by Rhody2Mn

I'm not sure where they arrived at that conclusion, but most studies from the last year support the belief that people are equally if not more productive working at home than at the office. I have been working from home since the pandemic began and have been told I'll be going back to the office two days a week starting in September, but I am in no rush. I love working from home and actually get more done than I did at the physical job location having to listen to meaningless office gossip. I realize not all jobs can be remote, but many can and I don't understand why leaders at some companies are pushing people to return to the office when they can easily perform their job in the comfort of their home versus a cubicle. Not to mention how wonderful it is not having to deal with commuting! Long live work from home!

Their already paying rent or mortgage/paid off buildings and utilities are currently lowest they’ll ever be, why add to them with people being there? Company will actually make less money having employees working in a office. I can see many companies downsizing office space, Target being one, all of Silicon Valley (richest company location in the world) I don’t know what Apple is thinking after just spending a few dollars of it’s pocket change to build that monstrosity complex…

[Isaysos]

Society can’t function on Zoom calls and everyone hiding out at home all day. It’s not working well for us (society) translates to companies to not have synergy. We are social beings. That’s why most are going back to the office.