MINNEAPOLIS—Northeast Minneapolis has become one of the more vibrant sections of the city, home to redeveloped warehouse and industrial buildings that now house art galleries, shops, restaurants and offices. And Sara Investment Real Estate, LLC, a Madison, WI-based company, has just established a foothold in the neighborhood by buying the Crown/Frost buildings in the Crown Center complex, a former factory where airplane components were manufactured in WWII. The price was not disclosed.

“It's a district with a cool vibe, filled with diverse people,” a Sara official tells GlobeSt.com. “Entrepreneurs and business owners have made it a destination for entertainment as well as business. It's a great location for our firm to have a presence.”

Sara acquired the six buildings, which include the 40,000 square-foot Frost building, from developer Scott Tankenoff of Hillcrest Development LLP, who renovated the once-derelict complex into a collection of smaller spaces that now houses a diverse group of companies, including a brewery. All of the spaces are tied together by a community green space called the Shed which Hillcrest decorated with 3,345 square feet of pollinator-friendly plants. “Hillcrest did a great job with the property,” says Traci Dalsin, president of Sara Investment. “It's been beautifully redone.”

The firm's other properties in Minnesota are a multi-tenant building in Edina leased by Arkray USA, Inc. and Barr Engineering, the Minnetonka West Office Building in Minnetonka and a multi-tenant retail property in Rochester. Sara Investment was founded in 1997, and now owns and operates more than two million square feet in 25 cities valued at more than $200 million.

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Brian J. Rogal

Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.