City Center, the giant office tower and retail complex along Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis, has been put up for sale again.

San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties expects to fetch bids that hover around $300 million for the 1.6 million square-foot center, according to Real Estate Alert, a real estate and investment newsletter.

Shorenstein, which purchased City Center in 2012 for $205.5 million, hired CBRE to market it. A representative for Shorenstein declined to comment Wednesday.

Shorenstein nearly sold City Center last year for $280 million, but the would-be buyer — Los Angeles-based CIM Group — spooked after Target Corp., the major tenant of the 51-story tower, announced significant layoffs in Minneapolis. Shorenstein has since signed Target to a 15-year lease on 984,000 square feet, or 73 percent of the building's entire office space, making it a stable moment to sell.

As well, the property's retail area is about 85 percent leased, though its street-level space has seen tenants revolve. Sports Authority is going out of business less than a year after opening in City Center, a result of the sports retailer's bankruptcy. Sports Authority's departure will drop the property's retail to about 75 percent leased. An upscale Italian restaurant called Il Foro shuttered last week after an 11-month run in the former Forum Cafeteria space, an art deco landmark.

Yet City Center's skyway-level retail thrives with 50,000 people walking through its six connections daily. Saks Off Fifth recently reopened in the building after vacating Gaviidae Common across the street. Other retail tenants, including Rosa Mexicano, Fogo de Chao and Brooks Brothers, remain.

City Center’s skyway-level retail thrives with 50,000 people walking through its six connections daily.

City Center is bordered by Nicollet Mall, Hennepin Avenue and 6th and 7th streets S. The City Center tower, also called 33 South Sixth, is the fourth tallest building in the city. The complex includes a parking garage with nearly 700 spaces. A Marriott hotel that is part of the complex was sold by Shorenstein in a separate deal last year.

The complex was designed by Skidmore Owings and completed in 1983. It underwent a $15 million renovation in 2005.

Kristen Leigh Painter • 612-673-4767