MINNEAPOLIS—City Center Realty Partners, LLC and its partner Angelo, Gordon & Co., have just sold this city's Plaza Seven office tower to Franklin Street Properties Corp. for $82 million. It's a big gain for CCRP, which bought the downtown property just three years ago for $43.6 million and significantly boosted its occupancy rate.

It also may be a sign that another round of lucrative trades has begun. As reported in GlobeSt.com, a few years ago investors like the San Francisco-based CCRP, which has invested heavily in several other office properties here, bought up many office buildings both downtown and in the suburbs. And a few months ago, the owner of the IDS Center, the Twin Cities' most notable office property, named Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. to market it for sale.

“The Midwest is looked on very favorably by institutional investors,” Adam Short, vice president of Golub & Co., tells GlobeSt.com. And many consider Minneapolis, which has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, to be its top secondary market. “That bodes well for existing owners. A few more office properties may hit the market this year.”