An Eagan office landmark that once housed legions of insurance workers is now being shopped as something very different: an industrial hub with everything from last-mile cold-storage suites to sprawling warehouse boxes.
Two Minnesota developers are circulating plans to convert the vacant Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota headquarters at 3535 Blue Cross Road into industrial space. The decades-old office complex, largely empty since Blue Cross reduced its on-site workforce, is being pitched to potential users in fresh marketing materials that sketch out a dramatic pivot in how the property could function.
City staff and the development team are expected to sit down in the coming weeks for a concept-level discussion that will shape how any plan moves through zoning and environmental review. Neighbors and planners are already signaling that truck traffic, buffers and grading will be front-and-center issues if the project moves ahead.
Developers signal industrial pivot
Opus Capital Partners is among the firms walking prospective industrial tenants through the possibilities for the site, with marketing materials outlining flexible scenarios that range from retrofitting the existing structure to clearing it for new industrial buildings, as reported by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Those materials flag potential uses including food production, cold storage, general warehousing and light manufacturing…