The landmark Minneapolis Grain Exchange, long a temple of commodity trading, is now poised for a very different kind of deal: Sherman Associates is pitching a roughly $120 million apartment conversion that would add 232 homes to downtown Minneapolis while keeping a slice of office and street-level retail in play. A large portion of those new homes is slated to be below market rate inside the historic complex.
As reported by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, the concept calls for about 232 residences at the Grain Exchange with an estimated $120 million in redevelopment costs. Roughly 186 of the units are designated as affordable housing, and portions of the campus are expected to remain in office and retail use. The Business Journal lays out the key numbers and confirms Sherman Associates as the developer behind the proposal.
The Grain Exchange campus dates to the early 1900s and sits at the intersection of Fourth Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. It has long functioned as a skyway-connected cluster of buildings, anchored by a notable trading floor and various commercial spaces. According to the building’s leasing site, the complex lists a leasing office at 301 4th Ave S and markets multiple contiguous properties as a single campus for tenants.
Developer and Local Track Record
Sherman Associates, a Minneapolis-based developer, is steering the plan and is no stranger to downtown rehabs or new multifamily construction across the city. The company’s website highlights a string of downtown projects and public-private partnerships that have focused on historic rehabilitations while producing a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments in recent years. Turning old brick into new bedrooms is not exactly new territory for this team.
Financing, Tax Credits and Approvals Ahead
Converting a landmark into housing typically depends on a cocktail of private capital, public incentives and historic preservation credits to make the math work. The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office describes the state Historic Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit program as a 20% credit, or in some cases a grant in lieu of a credit, for qualifying projects. Applicants must coordinate with SHPO and the National Park Service before construction gets underway to remain eligible.
How It Fits Into Downtown Housing Trends
The Grain Exchange proposal lands in the middle of a broader push to convert or reuse downtown office and commercial space for housing, particularly projects that build in affordable units. Sherman has pursued other sizable downtown conversions and at times has sought public financing tools to support them, a pattern documented in earlier coverage of the developer’s proposals. In other words, this latest move follows a familiar playbook for turning underused commercial real estate into apartments…