The Department of Employment and Economic Development will occupy five floors at the former bank building, including the skyway level offices, says Kit Borgman, a spokesman for the department. The department, which employs about 900, had decided last fall to consolidate its three Downtown St. Paul locations at the First National Bank Building.

The state department's move to the offices in Downtown St. Paul was threatened in the most recent session of the Minnesota Legislature as a group of senators attempted to restrict any new leases. The session ended without the bill being passed, and the department signed a new lease shortly after they adjourned. The department was created last July with the merger of the Department of Employment Security and the Department of Trade and Economic Development. The Department of Employment Security, which handles unemployment issues, has long occupied a state office building at 390 Robert St. The state Administration Department has been assigned to sell that building.

The Department of Trade and Economic Development had most of its operations in the Metro Square building in Downtown St. Paul. The Minnesota Trade Office, an arm of the old economic development department, has been housed in Wells Fargo Place.