The Pohlad family owns the Minnesota Twins and the historic Ford Center under renovation across the street from Target Field in Minneapolis. Now, they're looking to add to their Warehouse District holdings.
United Properties, the real estate development branch of the Pohlad family companies, has an option to buy the Shapco Printing Inc. building across from the ballpark, both companies confirmed Friday.
Shapco is a commercial printer that operates in a low 1940s industrial building at 524 N. 5th St. It's across the street from the Ford Center, the 11-story office building that United Properties is renovating.
Bill Katter, a senior vice president at United Properties, said that while renovating the Ford Center they decided there is a market for more office space in the neighborhood and decided to explore the Shapco site for creating new office, residential and perhaps retail space.
"Tenants that we have not been able to accommodate at the Ford Center perhaps would be interested in this project," Katter said. "We've had tremendous success at Ford, so why wouldn't we keep the momentum going?"
Shapco President Joel Shapiro said United Properties had discussed demolishing the plant and creating new office space, with the National Marrow Donor Program mentioned as a "possible tenant."
The Marrow Donor Program is a federally funded nonprofit headquartered in northeast Minneapolis that is looking for a significant amount of new space to accommodate growth. It has hired tenant services provider Nelson, Tietz & Hoye to explore possible new spaces.
United Properties' option to buy the Shapco site is a step away from a purchase agreement. Shapiro said the option was signed in the last couple of weeks, but downplayed it, saying it carries no commitment for a purchase.
"They even told me the chances are probably one-in-four they would actually buy it," Shapiro said.
Shapiro said his company employs 120 people and has been in the building for 33 years. A remnant of the neighborhood's industrial past, the two-floor plant sits near the flashy new ballpark's left field. He described traffic and garbage on game days as a "minor nuisance." The main reason Shapco is willing to move, he said, is that there's probably a better use for the site now.
Building valued at $1.3 million
Property records show that Shapco's building has about 53,000 square feet, was built in 1942 and is valued at $1.3 million.
The National Marrow Donor Program would only say it's considering a wide range of options for its growing organization, and wouldn't say how seriously it's considering a possible Shapco site.
While business has been slow to bounce back from the Great Recession, the marrow program -- one of the state's largest nonprofits -- has been expanding. Its workforce of 700 grew 12 percent last year, according to spokeswoman Celeste Gervais.
The program matches donors with patients needing marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants. Its main administrative headquarters are in a new office building at 3001 Broadway St. NE. in Minneapolis, but it has other locations in the Twin Cities. It currently leases about 175,000 square feet of space in both 3001 Broadway and another office building nearby. The leases expire in 2015 and it's exploring multiple options, including moving to other single buildings or campuses with multiple buildings, she said.
Russ Nelson, president of Nelson Tietz & Hoye, declined to discuss the hunt except to say "we're early on looking for sites."
Jennifer Bjorhus • 612-673-4683
