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Student-developers seek sites
A commercial real estate association is gearing up for an annual college competition while a Minnesota member gets ready to head the group on a national level.
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An annual competition that challenges college students to analyze development projects is looking for a few good sites.
The University Challenge, sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, allows student teams to get real-world experience by preparing feasibility studies on potential projects for a vacant or redevelopable site. The competition also gives professionals a look at prospective employees.
The competition takes place in April. Previous participants have included teams from the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, St. Cloud State University, Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Northern Iowa.
NAIOP member companies interested in offering a site for consideration can contact Peter Brodd at peter.brodd@ mortenson.com.
The Minnesota chapter is one of 58 across North America for NAIOP, whose members include about 15,000 developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate. At last week's annual meeting in Chicago, area real estate veteran Larry Pobuda was introduced as the incoming chairman of the national organization. His one-year term officially starts Jan. 1.
Pobuda has served on NAIOP's national board of directors since 2003 and also was president of the Minnesota chapter in 1997. He began his real estate career at Trammell Crow Co. in 1988 and later moved to United Properties before leaving to co-found Stewart Lawrence Group with Stew Stender in 2006. Their business focuses on acquiring and developing commercial real estate.
Suburban office dealsNorthMarq recently announced four suburban office property transactions completed last month.
In Maple Grove, it represented Ironwood Investments in the $2.5 million sale of a 23,000-square-foot building at 13000 63rd Av. N. to Minneapolis Meat Cutters and Food Handlers Properties. The union plans to renovate the building and move in next spring.
NorthMarq's other transactions involved leases, including a renewal for 5,345 square feet at Southdale Office Center for Twin Cities Orthopedics; a renewal and expansion for 18,260 square feet at Flagship Corporate Center in Eden Prairie for the law firm of Fafinski Mark and Johnson, and a new lease for 6,000 square feet at Centennial Lakes Office Park in Edina for Robert Muir Co.
New Franken officesSen. Al Franken's Minnesota office recently moved into new digs in the Drake Building at 60 E. Plato Blvd. in St. Paul. Franken's office occupies 4,306 square feet of the 80,000-square-foot property in the West Side area across the Mississippi River from downtown.
The building, owned and managed by Wellington Management Inc., now is 94 percent occupied. Other tenants include Drake Bank and the Northwest Area Foundation.
Susan Feyder • 612-673-1723
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