Wells Fargo, the former Norwest Corp., said Monday ithas begun negotiations with Zeller to move a largepart of its downtown St. Paul operations to what hasbeen the retail portion of the World Trade Center."We are in the process of negotiating our lease, andwe think there is an opportunity for naming rights,"says Theresa Morrow, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo.The bank, which needs room for a growing St. Paulstaff, would keep its more than 275 phone bankemployees at the Norwest Center, its current downtownSt. Paul address, but would move many of the remaining325 employees to the new space. The main bankingfloor, where most customers do business, wouldrelocate to the trade center, as would the bank'sdrive-through services.

The trade center's three-story, 30,000-sf retail courthas gone wanting for years in the wake of unfulfilledplans for movie theaters, restaurants and bookstores,and is mostly vacant, in part because its landlords were looking at changing it's use. The office tower,with a 12% vacancy rate, has been moresuccessful.

At Norwest Center, Wells Fargo leases 109,000 sf much of it taken up by a 300-employee,back-office phone bank. Current plans call for thephone bank to stay, but departments dealing withconsumer banking services, private client services,student loans, home mortgages and commercial bankingservices are all likely to move. "We're bursting at the seams at our currentlocation,'' Morrow says.