Hillcrest Development closed its long-awaited purchase of the former Minneapolis schools headquarters for $4.05 million Monday.
"Work started today," Scott Tankenoff, managing partner for the development company, said Tuesday. "We've been waiting to purchase this building for a really, really long time."
Tankenoff said that the building's 165,000 square feet would be converted to office space, with an expected emphasis on creative occupations such as photography or graphic design studios. He said he expected initial tenants to move in early in 2015.
The Logan Park neighborhood emphasized using the landmark brick complex at 807 Broadway St. NE in a way that creates new jobs.
"It's in a neighborhood that we have a very large investment in in northeast Minneapaolis," Tankenoff said, noting other nearby building renovations by Hillcrest. "It's where our heart is. It's in the center of gravity for us."
Tankenoff said he thinks that the former light bulb factory's brick and timbered interiors will be attractive to tenants.
Hillcrest originally planned to close by the end of 2103, but a title issue delayed that.
The money from the sale will be used by the school district to help pay for the $41.,7 million new headquarters at 1250 Broadway that the district occupied two years ago. Hillcrst was chosen from a field of seven developers that put forward proposals for the property.
