urbanMSP

Opus to build Nicollet Mall HQ for Xcel

Sam Black
Senior reporter- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Opus Development Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to build a nine-story, 212,000-square-foot office in downtown Minneapolis for a new headquarters for Xcel Energy Corp.

The site, on the corner of Fourth Street and Nicollet Mall, is just across from Xcel (NYSE: XEL)'s current headquarters. Xcel will move into the building in 2016.

Opus plans to start construction in 2014. You can read Opus' statement here.

Full story here: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... tower.html

Finally - my least favorite parcel in Minneapolis! This is fantastic news, and Opus is surprisingly back in the game these days...

2014?! Boo hiss. Still happy to see the ramp go obviously.

This kind of made my day. I like new construction.

nice. this is great news for downtown.

This is a fantastic looking building. It looks like it'll do a great job of complimenting the old HQ and tying in with the new development in the area. It's also good to see that Xcel will be using this in addition to their old building, rather than vacating it and leaving an empty structure.

Great news! I'm guessing the 2014 start date is because they want to be done with the apartment building first? Any other reason why they wouldn't start for 2 years?

Great news. I like the fact that Xcel is sticking to downtown and the building will be replacing the parking ramp. I wonder, however, why they are waiting until 2014 for construction to start. Maybe the wait will lead to more demand for office space and they will add another 10 - 15 stories.

This is great news, maybe we will see the other close by surface lots go away soon.

This is totally great news! Also probably makes a good extension of the skyway and possibility of getting the library connected!? One surface lot away!!! Ha!

I haven't been in 414 Nicollet since they remodeled the lobby... any chance for a skyway to connect the Mezzanine level, either public or private? I know when they leased Renaissance Square employees walked across 5th all the time to get between the two buildings.

Reminds me a bit of Lawson Commons. Glad to see this ramp going away too. This and Nicollet Residences should dramatically improve this stretch of Nicollet Mall.

I just read the article on the Strib site before coming here and was very unimpressed by 9 stories. But seeing that rendering, that is a great building and a will fit in great. Also curious to the late start. Should approval really take that long? The city should have this approved next week!!

Nice...Opus will be doing the whole block. I like how they have included their apartment tower in the rendering.

The height is fine with the apartment tower right night door. This is going to be such a huge upgrade to the area...

Nice...Opus will be doing the whole block. I like how they have included their apartment tower in the rendering.

Actually I think this doesn't include that 1/4th block surface lot in the corner.

I just read the article on the Strib site before coming here and was very unimpressed by 9 stories. But seeing that rendering, that is a great building and a will fit in great. Also curious to the late start. Should approval really take that long? The city should have this approved next week!!

They probably are going to finish out the leases in their current buildings first since they are going to consolidate their entire downtown footprint into their main HQ and this new building. Many corporate office space lease on 5 and 10 year contracts.

I'm not saying that's the reason why. It just seems the most logical to me.

So maybe it's just that they don't need the building done until 2016. It has nothing to do with the approval or the developer being busy I'm sure. No developer would make a client wait 4 years to get the job done, they would hire more staff before doing that.

According to the reporting, the construction of the office building is being timed to coincide with the expiration of leases in the buildings where many of the Xcel workers currently have offices. As those existing leases expire, the workers will move into their new digs across from the Xcel HQ on Nicollet by 2016, which is also the year the new downtown stadium is scheduled to open.

Too bad the residential tower is being shortened by 6 stories, now down to 27 stories, according to The Biz Journal story, but an acceptable tradeoff to get this rest of the block developed. The last portion of the story also projects a November construction start for the residential building.

Encouraging to hear the Xcel spokesperson boldly declare, downtown Minneapolis is our home now and in the future and even more encouraging to see them back up the rhetoric with construction commitments.

According to the reporting, the construction of the office building is being timed to coincide with the expiration of leases in the buildings where many of the Xcel workers currently have offices. As those existing leases expire, the workers will move into their new digs across from the Xcel HQ on Nicollet by 2016, which is also the year the new downtown stadium is scheduled to open.

Too bad the residential tower is being shortened by 6 stories, now down to 27 stories, according to The Biz Journal story, but an acceptable tradeoff to get this rest of the block developed. The last portion of the story also projects a November construction start for the residential building.

Encouraging to hear the Xcel spokesperson boldly declare, downtown Minneapolis is our home now and in the future and even more encouraging to see them back up the rhetoric with construction commitments.

Any reason for shortening the Nicollet Residences by 6 stories? It CAN'T be NIMBY's this time!!

This is fantastic news, I've always hated that ramp! Finally, that end of Nicollet will get new teeth, no more gaps!! I do hope they add some street level retail to it to add to the vibrancy for both the workers and the residence.