Biz beat: Apex Companies lands in Burnsville

Apex Companies, a Maryland-based environmental engineering and design firm, recently entered the Minnesota market, opening an office in Burnsville.

The office, which opened in July, will share staff with the company's MidCon division of more than 60 professionals, including technicians, field supervisors and project managers, said Kevin Satz, an Apex spokesman.

Satz said the company chose Burnsville because of its easy access to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and lower rent compared with some commercial properties in Hennepin County. The Burnsville location has 700 square feet of office and 1,900 square feet of shop/warehouse space.

Satz said the Burnsville office will support the company's growing business in water-related services.

Bank-owned land prices cut

Two large land parcels zoned for residential development in Lakeville have had their selling prices cut, several months after being taken back by lenders and sitting on the market.

A 48-acre site in the Autumn Meadows subdivision is now listed for $1.299 million, according to a marketing brochure from the Twin Cities office of CB Richard Ellis. The parcel was originally listed for $2 million last year and most recently listed for $1.399 million.

Software firms merge

RJS Software Systems, a provider of document management software, has acquired NowData Corp., a software development firm specializing in web-deployed database systems. Both companies are in Burnsville.

RJS said the acquisition allows it to expand its managed services business and strengthen its software development team. The addition of NowData brings the total RJS workforce to about 55, said Joel Sawyer, marketing manager.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. For the immediate future, NowData will retain its name but will move its employees to the RJS offices. "It's a convenient move for them," said Sawyer, noting that the two businesses are only about a block away from each other. "They won't even need to have anybody help them move their boxes."

Eagan building sold

A business entity of James Campbell Co. recently bought a 48,000-square-foot commercial building at 1090 Gemini Road. The purchase price wasn't disclosed, but the property was valued at about $2.3 million this year, according to Dakota County property records.

The Eagan building isn't the first investment in Dakota County for Campbell. Last year a different entity of the Hawaiian firm bought the 35/13 Crossing office and warehouse complex in Burnsville for almost $18 million. The company, which owns and manages properties in 15 states, also owns industrial and office buildings in Plymouth and Minnetonka.