Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN articles from June 2005

Finance and Commerce Daily Newspaper, MN archives from June 2005

Anchor tenants signed for Chanhassen project.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Spalon Montage and Americana Community Bank will anchor the new Market Street Station in downtown Chanhassen. The two-story, 43,365-square-foot mixed-use office/retail project, located at the northeast...

Edina-based The Cornerstone Group hires vice president.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Peter Lund has been named vice president of strategic operations for The Cornerstone Group, an Edina-based real estate development firm. Lund will oversee and help streamline the firm's operations,...

MN projects recognized by federal highway agency.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced last week that the Eden Prairie SouthWest Station and the Mill Ruins Park have received 2005 Environmental Excellence Awards from the Federal Highway...

Minneapolis-based UrbanWorks Architecture named to design 730 Lofts.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Minneapolis-based UrbanWorks Architecture has been selected to design the 730 Lofts condo project for developer Schafer Richardson in the North Loop area of downtown Minneapolis. The 10-story, 112-unit...

'Save Midway' Stadium effort pays off for St. Paul Saints fans.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson Renovate - don't relocate has been a rallying cry for Peter Boehm since at least 2001, when the die-hard St. Paul Saints fan spearheaded an effort to save Midway Stadium and keep the Saints from moving to new digs....

Duke Realty project is positive sign for MN industrial sector.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. announced plans on Tuesday to build a speculative 324,000-square-foot bulk distribution warehouse facility in Brooklyn Park. "We knew that there seemed to be some larger users...

Land trust helps revitalize St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements Affordable housing is doing its job of helping stabilize and improve the central St. Paul area that encompasses what used to be the Rondo neighborhood. In fact, the challenge now for public and nonprofit housing...

Dispute puts brakes on Skyway Theater plans in Minneapolis.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard A long-running, tangled dispute over the former home of the Skyway Theater in downtown Minneapolis grinds on in Hennepin County District Court, with no swift resolution apparent on the horizon. The case revolves...

Small banks find downtown Minneapolis to their liking.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson When Peter Dahl decided it was time to open a new Crown Bank branch in downtown Minneapolis, one of his main motivations was to clean up unfinished business. "I can stand at Crystal Court for 15 minutes and I'll...

Ault Incs. sells headquarters in Brooklyn Park for $3.85M.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Ault Inc. has sold its corporate headquarters in Brooklyn Park to an undisclosed buyer for $3.85 million. Ault built the 64,000-square-foot facility in 1999 as its corporate headquarters for domestic...

Rondo was social and cultural hub for St. Paul's African-American community.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements For the first Remember Rondo Days event in 1983, a son of Rondo, Dr. David V. Taylor, now dean of the General College at the University of Minnesota, prepared a special history of the old neighborhood. Sometime...

Native of St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood comes full circle with development.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements For as long as Indred Alexander can remember, the lot at the southeast corner of Selby Avenue and Victoria Street has stood vacant, an enduring symbol for all who know the sad history of Rondo. A nearby church for...

Developer plans upscale rowhouse project in Wayzata.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson East Coast-style rowhouses may be coming soon to Wayzata. Real estate agent John Adams, in his first stab at development, wants to build three upscale rowhouse structures with a total of six housing units on an...

Brokers say churches can be tough properties to sell.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard The property brochure advertising the sale of 441 Rice St. in St. Paul is rich with tantalizing detail: "Located on a corner with great visibility. Stately brick exterior and timber interior. Excellent access to...

City of Minneapolis seeks fresh batch of development ideas for north side site.
June 2, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Conversations about redevelopment at the southeast corner of Penn Avenue North and Lowry Avenue North date back to at least the early 1990s. The city of Minneapolis bought five parcels at the corner and cleared the...

St. Paul officials push for development of Snelling Avenue site.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements The city of St. Paul and the owners of Midway Center shopping mall have agreed to take a step toward the development of a $12 million regional retail center at the vacant Snelling Avenue bus barn site. Next...

MN Marketing Briefs: June 4, 2005.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger Ask Minnesotans to name the biggest tourism marketing campaign in the state, and most think of the Explore Minnesota Tourism program operated by the state Department of Employment and Economic Development. In terms...

Bipartisan panel agrees: MN governor could be in political trouble if special session drags on.
June 7, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw A bipartisan panel of political commentators had no trouble agreeing on one thing on Friday: Gov. Tim Pawlenty could be in political trouble if the legislative special session drags on much longer. The panel - the...

Minneapolis executive elected officer of construction group.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Todd Taggart, a partner at the Minneapolis office of Grant Thornton, was elected national secretary of the Construction Financial Management Association. Taggart has been a board member and treasurer for the group's Twin...

Minnesota chapter of Nat. Assn. of Industrial and Office Properties wins two awards.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff The Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) received two Awards of Excellence from the Midwest Society of Association Executives. NAIOP won in the publications category...

Los Angeles firm buys four student housing complexes, one at Univ. of MN.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises Investors has acquired four student housing communities from Melrose StudentSuites, including a complex at the University of Minnesota. The local acquisition is a 278-unit, 932-bedroom...

Minnesota's neighborhood retail centers attracting interest of investors.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard The retail property investment market has slowed considerably since last year, but there's fresh activity among neighborhood center properties. Wayzata-based H.J. Development has put the 104,000-square-foot...

Farmington plans $45M retail project.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Farmington is one of the metro area's fastest-growing suburbs, yet in some ways it could use more construction. The city, which saw its population double to 18,000 between 1990 and 2000, laments the fact that many...

MN Real Estate Briefs: June 9, 2005.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson The Doubletree Hotel Park Place in St. Louis Park has a new owner and may get a multi-million dollar sprucing up as part of the bargain. The 297-room full-service hotel at I-394 and Park Place Boulevard was part...

Host of buyers reserve units in new condominium skyscraper in downtown Minneapolis.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger The Nicollet, a 50-floor condominium skyscraper that is planned for downtown Minneapolis, struck a jazzy chord with prospective buyers last Thursday during a kick-off party that attracted 70 new reservations for the...

eBay glitch doesn't sidetrack bidding for CW Lofts project in northeast Minneapolis.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger Online bidders for a unit in the CW Lofts condominium project were thrown an 877-mile curveball last week. Yes, the tower loft unit being auctioned off on eBay is located in the former Cream of Wheat Building in...

Vacancy rates growing for senior housing in the Twin Cities.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard The senior housing market continues to expand in the Twin Cities, even as vacancy among senior housing projects continues to climb. Those findings come from the "Senior Housing Update 2005" report from...

Dublin-based investment and development company opens office in Minneapolis.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson Twin Cities investors will have broader access to overseas residential projects and a stronger Eireann go braugh flavor now that Prestige International has hung its shingle in Minneapolis. The Dublin-based...

Bill Lucking joins Eagan-based JBL Companies Inc.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Bill Lucking has been hired as a business development specialist at the Eagan-based JBL Companies Inc. commercial real estate firm. Lucking, who previously worked at Progress Plus, has experience in tenant and landlord...

LandCor holds opening for Bell Tower West in Maple Grove, MN.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff The LandCor Cos. development firm will hold a grand opening this afternoon for its Bell Tower West building in Maple Grove. The new 53,600-square-foot office structure, 9325 Upland Lane N., is 82 percent leased and...

Senior interior designer joins Wayzata-based Mohagen/Hansen Architectural Group.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Wayzata-based Mohagen/Hansen Architectural Group has hired Karen Mensing as a senior interior designer. Mensing, who previously worked eight years as an interior designer at Minneapolis-based Ellerbe Becket, has...

Minneapolis-based KKE Architects hires justice facilities specialist.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Clifford Buikema has joined Minneapolis-based KKE Architects Inc. as an associate. Buikema, who has 33 years of experience in facilities planning, will work with the firm's justice team clients. His career has...

Minneapolis-based Short Elliott Hendrickson architectural firm adds three to staff.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff Three people have joined the Minneapolis-based Short Elliott Hendrickson architectural firm. Bryan Tolcser will work in the St. Paul office as a graduate scientist responsible for natural resource surveys and for wetland...

Mound's downtown redevelopment plan aims to regain city's lost identity.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson For the past five years, Kandis Hanson has heard the same words over and over about Mound's ambitious downtown redevelopment plan: "It will never happen." The plan had its supporters. In fact, a large faction of...

Campbell Mithun Tower in Minneapolis goes on the market.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard The Campbell Mithun Tower in Minneapolis is the latest downtown office tower to hit the market. Eden Prairie-based Northstar Partners will be handling the sale for the owners: ND Properties Inc., a wholly owned...

An unrepentant Minneapolis developer prepares to serve federal sentence for bribery.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements East Lake Street developer Basim Sabri doesn't disagree that his $5,000 in payments to former Minneapolis City Council Member Brian Herron in July 2001 looked like a bribe. In fact, Sabri says, he wrote a $3,000...

St. Paul Building Owners & Managers Assn. sets golf tourney for July 25.
June 9, 2005... Byline: staff The 19th annual St. Paul BOMA Golf Tournament will be held Monday, July 25, at Tartan Park Golf Course in Lake Elmo. The event will begin at noon and finish with a dinner and prizes at 6 p.m. Prizes will include a new car...

MN Construction Briefs: June 9, 2005.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson The Associated Builders and Contractors of Minnesota and Hope for the City, an Edina-based nonprofit organization, joined forces last week to repair a 24-hour day-care center in Minneapolis that serves low-income,...

Lander Group project adds condos to Kingfield neighborhood in south Minneapolis.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard The Kingfield neighborhood in south Minneapolis does not sit along the Mississippi River. There's no warehouse district and few "breathtaking views" to be found. But Minneapolis-based Lander Group has zeroed in on...

Podcasts help political activists make their choices in a high-tech medium.
June 10, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw Peter Idusogie and Michael McIntee are like two peas in a pod. Or rather, two activists in a podcast. Idusogie is the host and McIntee is the producer of "Inside Minnesota Politics," a political podcast available...

MN Marketing Briefs: June 11, 2005.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger The Taxpayers League of Minnesota took its case to the air waves on Friday, criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his 75-cent-a-pack "health impact fee" on cigarettes. Calling the impact fee the start of a...

Anonymous letter criticizes Lake Elmo growth plans.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson Lake Elmo officials are scratching their heads over an anonymous, vaguely threatening anti-development letter that was distributed to city residences last month. The one-page letter - attached by rubber bands to...

Ex-grocery store in Burnsville eyed for weight training center.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson An organization that trains competitive weightlifters hopes to convert a former grocery store in Burnsville into one of the top training centers in the United States. The 40,000-square-foot grocery store site -...

Kowalski's Markets closes its Camden store.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Kowalski's Markets is planning to shut down its store in the Camden neighborhood of Minneapolis, 4414 Humboldt Ave. N., at the end of next week - its second store closing in less than a year. "Our last business day...

Lawson Commons in St. Paul fetched healthy $84.5M.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Dallas-based Behringer Harvard paid $84.5 million for Lawson Commons in downtown St. Paul - more money on a per-square-foot basis than the price last year for the IDS Center, the signature office building in downtown...

Madison Marquette named to manage Plymouth, Wayzata properties.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Madison Marquette, a Washington, D.C., based property management firm with offices in Minneapolis, has been selected to manage and lease Rockford Road Plaza in Plymouth and Colonial Square in Wayzata. ...

Annual golf benefit for Rebuild Resources set for July 14-15.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The 16th annual Construction Industry and Friends Golf Benefit will be held on Thursday and Friday, July 14 and 15, at the Fox Hollow Golf Course in St. Michael. The event is held to raise money for...

MN Shopping Center Association sets July meeting.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The next meeting of the Minnesota Shopping Center Association will examine how to market and service real estate clients and provide services. The session, scheduled for Wednesday, July 6, at the...

Budgeting workshop offered by St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Assn.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff The St. Paul chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association will offer a session on budgeting for property managers next Wednesday, June 22. The event will include a panel discussion led by...

Town of Biwabik drawing attention of developers.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger Biwabik, a city of 950 on the Minnesota Iron Range, is becoming a hot spot for condominiums and other real estate development. Late last year, Minneapolis-based Naterra Land acquired 2,000 acres along Wynne Lake from...

St. Paul lease deal rankles some brokers.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard A new office lease that will bring the Great Northwest Insurance Co. to downtown St. Paul was good news for the stagnant office market, but the deal has produced grumbling among some brokers who feel they weren't given...

St. Paul's bus barn imbroglio invites plenty of finger pointing.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements Everybody's pointing fingers at somebody else, and still one of the best pieces of real estate in St. Paul sits vacant. Well, not entirely vacant. A few broken-down buses occupy the 14.2-acre Snelling Avenue bus...

Deal with 'Twinsville' developer actually took root last summer.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard For the last six years, partners Rich Pogin and Bruce Lambrecht have been touting the concept of "Twinsville," a massive mixed-use development featuring a new baseball stadium and housing on land behind Target Center....

St. Paul-based Glaser Financial sale should boost loans, servicing.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson St. Paul-based Glaser Financial Group Inc. exchanged some independence for added scale, new products and growth opportunities last week when its owners agreed to sell the 19-year-old company to a Baltimore-based real...

Minneapolis firm named to design Northfield project.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Collaborative Design Group Inc. of Minneapolis has been selected by developer Mendota Homes of St. Paul to design The Crossing, a mixed-use project along the Cannon River in Northfield. The complex will...

Bloomington-based Braun Intertec adds three to technical team.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Bloomington-based Braun Intertec Corp. has added three people to its technical team in St. Cloud, hiring David Katzner as a staff scientist and Joseph Butler and Mark Kvas as staff engineers. Katzner,...

Bloomington-based Frauenshuh Cos. completes local real estate deals.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Bloomington-based Frauenshuh Cos. has completed several deals, including the sale of the 436,000-square-foot Lawson Commons building at 380 St. Peter St. in downtown St. Paul. Frauenshuh said it sold...

Minnesota lawmakers debate fixing statute on foreign operating corporations.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw A Minnesota law designed to give tax breaks to companies with overseas business operations remains under scrutiny at the state Capitol. The state Revenue Department announced last year that it was auditing...

MN Marketing Briefs: June 18, 2005.
June 18, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger Momentum, the Minnetonka-based promotion branch of New York-based Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG), will be no-mo next Friday when its remaining seven employees are merged with Minneapolis ad agency Campbell Mithun, which...

MN Resources board tangled in budget debate.
June 21, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw State legislators continue to discuss reforming the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) as part of the budget debate. The issue is regarded as pivotal to wrapping up the environment, agriculture...

St. Paul Port Authority recommends board approve purchase of Four Points Sheraton by Target.
June 21, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements The St. Paul Port Authority is recommending that its board approve an $8.6 million purchase agreement signed last Friday under which Target Corp. would buy the Four Points Sheraton hotel property in St. Paul's Midway...

St. Thomas program will help preserve surrounding West Summit neighborhood.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements The run-down, white clapboard house at 1892 Ashland Ave. in St. Paul helped motivate Jay Benanav to run for city council in 1998. As with many of his neighbors on that block, Benanav was tired of dealing with the...

Galtier Plaza in St. Paul on the market for $18.5M.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Galtier Plaza - a once-promising mixed-used building that failed to meet early expectations - is back on the sales block. Welsh Cos. is listing the 217,000 square feet of office and retail space in downtown St. Paul...

Low rates, housing demand drive area lending market.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson The story line at most local commercial banks this summer is a familiar one: It starts and ends with interest rates and the housing market. Long-term interest rates that still linger around 4 percent have been...

Target Commercial Interiors opening Bloomington store.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger Target Commercial Interiors, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Target Corp., will open its first Twin Cities retail outlet today at Interstate 494 and Penn Avenue South in Bloomington. The 11,600-square-foot store...

Bloomington-based Braun Intertec names principal, associate principal.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Michael Bratrud has been named a principal and Rachel Detwiler an associate principal at Bloomington-based Braun Intertec Corp. Bratrud directs environmental property assessments and hydrogeologic...

MN construction group sets breakfast meeting for Wednesday.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff "Surety Strategies and Insurance Update 2005" is the title of the June breakfast meeting of the Minnesota Construction Association. The event will be held next Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:15 a.m. in the...

Minneapolis-based Short Elliott Hendrickson appoints head power engineering center.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Minneapolis-based Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) has named Clarence Kadrmas to be director of its Power Engineering Market Center, replacing Robert Palmquist, who will focus on marketing the firm's power...

Solomon Real Estate Group set to begin first phase of Eagan Place.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Eden Prairie-based Solomon Real Estate Group Inc. has acquired 10 acres in Eagan at Yankee Doodle Road and Town Centre Drive for a project that will be mostly retail. The firm plans to tear down the Red...

St. Paul-based WAI Continuum designing Inver Grove Heights senior project.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff WAI Continuum, a St. Paul-based architectural firm, has been named to plan and design an affordable senior housing project for the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. The $3.3 million project...

Waconia-based Medallion Cabinetry plans manufacturing facility in Indiana.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Waconia-based Medallion Cabinetry Inc. is planning a new manufacturing plant in Culver, Ind. The facility will produce kitchen and bath cabinetry, parts and accessories. The plant is expected to employ...

Ryan Cos. adds TCF Tower to its downtown Minneapolis portfolio.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies U.S. Inc. has purchased the TCF Tower at 121 Eighth St. S. in downtown Minneapolis. Ryan Companies issued a press release on Monday announcing the sale, but Ryan executives declined...

Target deal for Sheraton hotel in St. Paul angers losing bidder.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Bill Clements A bidder for the Four Points Sheraton hotel in St. Paul was unhappy with the process, saying he was shocked to learn that Minneapolis-based Target Corp. had submitted a winning bid of only $8.6 million. Kevin Lam,...

Cement shortages not a problem in Minnesota, for now.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson While much of the country continues to deal with cement shortages, Minnesota appears to be in relatively good shape. Fred Corrigan, executive director of the Ready Mix Association of Minnesota, said there might be...

Developer tweaks planning for housing project near Guthrie Theater.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard David Bernard Builders and Developers, a division of the Roseville-based Rottlund Co., has revised its plan for a new housing project near the Guthrie Theater. Original plans called for 68 to 95 units of housing at...

Who's your favorite banker? Developers name names.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Mark Anderson Which real estate lenders in town are busy? And why are developers choosing them? We'll try to shed a little light on those questions as we check in periodically with developers about their banking choices and...

MN's industrial sector shows some signs of improvement.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Burl Gilyard After hearing the opening strains of the song "Industrial Disease" by Dire Straits, a panel of industrial brokers reported generally good news on Tuesday about the local industrial market at the monthly meeting of the...

Historic north Minneapolis maternity hospital gets new life.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson The red brick buildings that once housed the Martha Ripley Maternity Hospital in north Minneapolis are steeped in local history, but at least five years of inactivity and neglect have left the 1915-era structures in a...

For Minneapolis development firm Master, the quirkier the better.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson Visitors to Master's offices in northeast Minneapolis don't have to look far to figure out what the company likes to do. While some developers seek out large expanses of land outside of town, Master prefers...

IT vice president hired at Mendota Heights-based Cemstone Products.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Finance & Commerce Staff Cemstone Products Co., a Mendota Heights-based maker of ready-mixed concrete and aggregate, has named Todd Wickard as vice president of information technology. Wickard will oversee all aspects of the...

MN Marketing Briefs: June 25, 2005.
June 25, 2005... Byline: Bob Geiger After resigning its prestigious $165 million BMW ad account last week, Minneapolis-based agency Fallon Worldwide this week got a new business break by winning project work for Sony Electronics. Fallon executives...

ID theft remains on Minnesota's legislative agenda.
June 28, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw High-profile security breaches at credit-card processing firms and other companies across the country this year have Minnesota lawmakers thinking about new laws to protect consumers. Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill...

Minnesota's citizen legislators finding special session a challenge.
June 28, 2005... Byline: Charley Shaw Rep. Frank Moe awoke at his home in Bemidji at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday and was on the road to St. Paul a half-hour later. Moe, a DFLer who is serving his first term in the House, doesn't play a role in top level...

Minneapolis labor dispute breaks out over Sexton Building project.
June 30, 2005... Byline: Brian Johnson The Sexton Building's transformation from Class C office space to residential condos is attracting the attention of a Minneapolis labor union. Members of the Local 49 Operating Engineers union have been picketing...