Asignature redevelopment project is chugging forward in downtown Minneapolis.
In November, Irvine, Calif.-based WNC & Associates, a national investor in urban renewal and affordable housing projects, announced it had provided $8.3 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing to United Properties for the acquisition and renovation of The Ford Center in Minneapolis. The project is slated to deliver more than 270,000 sq. ft. (25,083 sq. m.) of LEED-certified office space, creating approximately 900 new jobs within a Federally Designated Empowerment Zone.
When complete, the building, originally built in 1912, will serve as the national headquarters of HGA Architects and Olson Advertising, with the firms executing 15- and 12-year leases respectively. The firms will occupy a combined 215,000 sq. ft. (19,975 sq. m.) of office space, accounting for 80 percent of the building’s total occupancy. The building will also house BrandLab, a local nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities within the marketing industry for minority and economically disadvantaged youth.
RJM Construction began renovations on the historic building last summer, including restoration of 700 windows and replacement of 300 more. Another of many changes is transforming the former train shed into an executive parking and fitness center area.
The Ford Center once housed a vertical assembly plant and showroom from Ford Motor Co., and is located within an area suffering from an unemployment rate nearly four times the national average, a poverty rate of 36.6 percent and median family income that is 21 percent of the national average.
The rehab comes at the same time that Ford has ceased Ford Ranger production at another Twin Cities plant.
Ford Center is located near Target Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins, and a planned expansion of the Minneapolis rail system. Minneapolis-based United Properties is owned by the Pohlad family, which also owns the Minnesota Twins.
