Opus Northwest is building the office park, called Excelsior Crossings. Michael Fruchtman, director of real estate development for RECP, tells GlobeSt.com that the buy was made to meet the fund's requirement of keeping the assets different in the fund, now reportedly up to 15 properties for $800 million. "They want to have diversification in every way, including asset class, geographic, credit obligations and lease duration," Fruchtman says. "We know that Opus builds a good product, and Cargill is a terrific credit tenant, we have the certainty of them paying the rent."

When completed, the park is supposed to total about 675,000 sf with three buildings. Fruchtman says Cargill has also signed a lease for another 200,000-sf building that Opus is about to build on the site. "Who knows, we could try to buy that building as well," he says. Cargill purchased the property for what was to be the third building, reportedly for $15.5 million in December.

The purchase is the first foray into Minneapolis for the fund, Fruchtman says. "We've tried, but not succeeded, to enter the Twin Cities previously," he says. "We really like this site because it's close to the airport and I-494, we're within a couple miles of major corporations like General Mills, Supervalu and UnitedHealth Group, and it's just a nice suburban area with high, executive incomes."