MINNEAPOLIS—The Opus Group has just completed a deal which should finally get a big chunk of industrial property in southwest suburban Shakopee, MN, back into productive use. They closed the acquisition of a 50-acre site where they plan to break ground on a 200,000-square-foot speculative project and simultaneously spun off about 60 acres of adjacent land and a vacant 509,000-square-foot building to the Emerson Electric Company. That building has never been used. “They're basically going to go into the building and make improvements and add offices and manufacturing components and occupy it,” says Tony Phelps, the senior director of real estate development for Opus. And the Opus building will be just the first phase of a new industrial and office park known as the Valley Park Business Center.
“[Emerson] got a fair deal on the building itself,” Phelps adds. They paid about $7.25 million for the site, while Opus paid about $9.25 million to Premier Banks, a locally-owned banking organization, for their property.
“We're thrilled for Opus to bring a new industrial development to the area,” says Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke. “This new warehouse and distribution center will bring additional businesses to the community and have a positive impact on our area.”
“This submarket in general has seen a lot of activity; it has seen by far the most activity in the Twin Cities area,” Phelps says. However, the metropolitan area as a whole also has a serious lack of available warehouse and distribution space designed for the needs of modern logistics firms. “You can count on one hand spaces with more than 100,000-square-feet and 32' clear ceiling heights.” This sparked interest among Opus officials for a new speculative project with 32' heights that they can market to a distribution or logistics company.
Opus Development Company, L.L.C. will develop the project, Opus Design Build, L.L.C. will serve as the design-builder and Opus AE Group, L.L.C. as the architect and engineer.
Other companies have also given the Twin Cities a vote of confidence. The Trammell Crow Company, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of the CBRE Group, Inc., for example, has just begun developing an 185,470-square-foot speculative industrial development in suburban Roseville. They will build the project, known as the Midtown Business Center, on approximately 13 acres and complete it by December.
“With the exception of multifamily, industrial is the hottest product type in our market,” says Phelps.
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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.
