The Essex is on the east side of Nicollet Mall across from three huge development projects Ryan has either recently completed or has under construction on the west side between Seventh and 10th streets: Target Plaza North and South, the 1.8-million-sf headquarters complex for the Minneapolis-based Target Corp.; 900 Nicollet, an office-retail complex that will house Retek Corp. and a Downtown Target store; and therecently opened one-million-sf US Bancorp Tower that is headquarters for US Bancorp and Piper Jaffray, its securities subsidiary.

The five-story building was sold to Ryan by the owners of the Local, an Irish pub-themed restaurant that will continue to anchor the ground level of the building. The top four floors will all be used as office space, Barr says.

One of the sellers, Henry Cousineau, is retaining part ownership in the building. The restaurant operators had planned to build a boutique hotel on the top floors, but the building's top floors have been vacant since Cousineau and his partner bought the building three years ago for $1.5 million.