The Great Northern Building, one of downtown St. Paul’s biggest office blocks, just sold for less than $2 million, and that eyebrow-raising price tag has local real estate watchers buzzing. A newly surfaced investor group called the Downtown Revival Trust is now in control of the landmark property at a time when the city’s core is wrestling with high vacancy and sleepy storefronts. The sale instantly raises questions about what the Trust really has in mind for the building and whether this is the start of a broader bargain-hunting spree in the Twin Cities.
According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, the buyer is the Downtown Revival Trust, which describes its mission as to “acquire, restore and reposition properties in the St. Paul core.” The outlet reports that the purchase price came in under $2 million and that the group is already eyeing additional deals in downtown St. Paul.
Big building, small price
The Great Northern Building at 180 East Fifth Street covers roughly 670,000 square feet spread over more than a dozen floors, according to current commercial listings. Given that sheer scale, and the building’s long run as home to state and federal offices, the sub-$2 million price point landed as a shock to many who follow the market. CommercialCafe lists the property’s address and size, while the Star Tribune has highlighted the building’s role as a government tenant hub through recent leasing cycles.
What the Trust says it will do
The Downtown Revival Trust presents itself, per the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, as a buyer of undervalued downtown assets that it intends to restore and reposition for new tenants or new uses. For now, though, the group has not released a detailed redevelopment blueprint. Key details, like how extensive any rehab would be, how it would be paid for, and when work might start, remain unanswered.
Where this fits in St. Paul’s comeback
City officials and private players have been testing a patchwork of nonprofit takeovers and traditional developments to bring life back to vacant downtown properties, and the Great Northern deal appears to be the latest swing at that problem. Last year, the St. Paul Downtown Development Corporation stepped in to acquire the troubled Alliance Bank Center, as reported by Bring Me The News. At the same time, the Star Tribune has detailed efforts to pull more state employees back into downtown offices to boost street-level activity…