Starting today, the 24/7 population of downtown Minneapolis will get a little bigger. The first wave of residents is moving into the Nic on Fifth apartment building, a 26-story tower at the corner of Nicollet Mall and 5th St. where rents range from $1,300 for an "alcove" unit to about $2,900 a month. Penthouses rents start at $3,500 a month.
A representative for the company said the building is 40 percent pre-leased, and nearly everyone who's moving in signed up sight-unseen. At this point, about 60 percent of those renters are baby boomers.
The building has 20,000 square feet of street and skyway level retail space and 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities on the sixth floor, including a garden roof deck with pool and spa, a rooftop dog run and fitness and yoga studios. No retail tenants have been announced.
The Nic is just one of several significant downtown buildings opening this fall. The first residents moved into Vélo, another Opus project, on July 15. And on Aug. 2, the first residents of the 36-story LPM Apartments tower on the edge of Loring Park started unpacking.
Across town near the University of Minnesota campus, Opus recently completed the Venue at Dinkytown, Opus' third mixed-use student housing project since 2012. The 246-bed, luxury student housing project is 97 percent leased. Starbucks, Great Clips and Gina+Will, a new concept clothing store from Goodwill, are on the main level.
