The city of Minneapolis is considering the sale of the Gaviidae I shopping center to a New York firm for $26.5 million.
The city owns a 34 percent share of the retail center, which is anchored by the Saks Fifth Avenue Off-Fifth department store. The remaining 66 percent stake is held by Toronto-based Brookfield Properties. The prospective buyer of the property, at 6th Street and Nicollet Mall, is David Werner Real Estate.
The city's Community Development Committee is expected to review the offer at its July 9 meeting.
The sale is not unexpected. In 2009, Brookfield announced it was selling all its holdings in Minneapolis, which included RBC Plaza, 33 South Sixth/City Center and the Neiman Marcus store. All have sold in the past year.
More recently, Brookfield and the city hired Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq to market Gaviidae I, resulting in multiple offers in a "highly competitive process," according to city documents.
Brookfield and city officials are now working on a formal purchase agreement, but the interest shown in the property "affirms the strong national market interest in high-quality downtown Minneapolis properties," the documents state.
City officials and Brookfield couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
Brookfield tried unsuccessfully to sell its Minneapolis office-retail buildings in 2007 and 2008, during the recession and with tight credit markets.
