MINNEAPOLIS—Office users have recently been showing more interest in Eden Prairie, MN, about 12 miles southwest of Minneapolis. A good example of this was the ability of Liberty Property Trust to fill up its Golden Triangle Innovation Center at 7075 Flying Cloud Dr. It was recently vacated by SuperValu after the grocer decided to shift its headquarters back to 11840 Valley View Rd., also in Eden Prairie.
Officials from the Malvern, PA-based Liberty say the the e-commerce firm Bluestem Brands Inc. has signed a long-term lease for the entire two story office warehouse building, or about 345,000 square feet of space. The facility will serve as its headquarters beginning March 2016. Liberty originally purchased the former Best Buy headquarters in 2007 with the intent of redeveloping the 40-acre parcel, but prior to the purchase Liberty leased the building to SuperValu.
Since then, a Liberty spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com that the company has provided a new parking lot, done some roof work, added a new cooling tower and roof top units. “Bluestem is still in the design phase of their future space,” the spokesperson says, and “Liberty is providing an improvement allowance for them to rework the space prior to March 1st.”
“Golden Triangle Innovation Center is unique to the market, as the facility offers unlimited flexibility on large floor plates with an added bonus of being located across the street from the future Golden Triangle Southwest Light Rail Station, ” adds Brad Butler, senior director, leasing and development for Liberty's Minnesota region.
The vacancy rate in the Southwest submarket sank to 15% in the second quarter, according to Colliers International, down from 15.5% in the first. There was 109,780 square feet of absorption, led by Vanco, which moved into 29,451 square feet of space at Northland Plaza. Furthermore, Colliers found that large complexes such as Normandale Lake Office Park and Centennial Lakes Office Park were helping set high rental rates for the area.
Bluestem will employ about 750 people at the Golden Triangle employees headquarters. The company was once a Liberty tenant at its Oakview office building in Eden Prairie.
Kurt Knoff, John Ferlita and Tom DeSautel of CBRE represented Bluestem Brands and Butler represented Liberty in the transaction.
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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.
