One of the downtown Minneapolis office buildings that houses Target Corp. has a new owner. California-based Menlo Equities paid $171 million for the 12-story office tower in the heart of the Central Business District at 900 Nicollet Mall and 50 S. 10th St., according to a certificate of real estate value filed this week with the county.

A fund controlled by Hamburg-based Union Investment has owned the building, which is now known as Target Plaza III, since 2014 when it paid $164.5 million. At the time, Nicollet Mall was about to undergo a multiyear renovation and out-of-town investors were paying top dollar for downtown commercial space.

Target Corp. has a long-term lease in the 498,768-square-foot building, which at the time of sale was nearly 100 percent occupied, according to Union Investment. Target also leases space in other buildings downtown.

Union Investment, which has an office in New York City, says the sale is part of a plan to reduce the age of its office portfolio in the U.S. The building was built in 2001 to LEED Gold energy and sustainability standards.

When Union Investment bought the building, it was known as Retek on the Mall and was owned by Massachusetts-based Franklin Street Properties, which paid $127 million for it in 2006.

The real estate investment manager recently acquired the brand-new Granite Park VII office building in Dallas and a hotel in Charleston, S.C.

Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376