Saving Sears

SAVING SEARS

By Linda Mack, Star Tribune

Last update: February 19, 2007 - 5:31 AM

That the retail white elephant was saved at all was a miracle.

After the historic 1927 store at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue closed on Christmas Eve 1994, the giant brick structure sat empty, a black hole in the city's heart. For a decade, developers and their ideas came -- and went. Thankfully, threats to raze the place were never carried out.

When the city of Minneapolis put out a new request for proposals in 2003, Ryan Companies offered a plan that included housing and an anchor office tenant, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, that had decided to consolidate 1,650 employees near its flagship Abbott Northwestern Hospital a block away.

The master developer put together a topnotch design team: retail and restaurant masters Shea for the public areas and global market; Elness Swenson Graham for the hotel and the condos and apartments, which were developed by Sherman Associates; the Collaborative Design Group to coordinate the project and design the shell and parking ramp, and Close Landscape Architecture for the urban design.

"It reminds me of Ben Hur -- epic proportions and a cast of thousands," said Mark Swenson of ESG.

After getting development approval from the city in January 2004, Ryan cut two atria in the main building, cleaned out asbestos and other pollutants, built a seven-story parking ramp and proceeded to complete Allina's offices by December 2005.

Residents began moving into the condos and apartments last January, and the Global Market opened in June. The Midtown Exchange Condos, developed by Project for Pride in Living across 10th Avenue S. and designed by UrbanWorks Architecture, were recently completed.