Target expands office space in downtown Minneapolis

Target Corp. is once again stretching its wings in downtown Minneapolis.

The retailer confirmed Thursday that it signed a new lease to occupy all of the office space at 50 S. 10th St., across the street from its corporate headquarters at 1000 Nicollet Mall.

Under its new lease with Franklin Street Properties Corp., the company will grab another 189,000 square feet in addition to the 259,000 square feet it already occupies. The lease, which expires in 2030, doesn't cover the first and second floors of the property.

"Target has been headquartered in Minneapolis for nearly 50 years and is pleased to have identified additional space that can accommodate our ongoing growth and expansion," spokeswoman Molly Snyder wrote in an e-mail.

Snyder did not elaborate on Target's specific plans for the site.

Target's real estate ambitions have buoyed the spirits of downtown property owners. Franklin Street Properties said it would invest about $106.2 million into the 50 S. 10th St. property, including $30 million "for lender-approved tenant improvement costs, leasing commissions, and other incentives necessary to lease space at the property."

"We believe that it is one of the best properties in the Minneapolis central business district and the decision by Target Corporation to maintain such a significant, long-term presence at the property further reinforces our belief," Franklin Street Properties CEO George Carter said in a statement.

Downtown Minneapolis is in its third year of recovery. Employment, residential housing and commercial construction are growing. Crime is down. A $59 million plan to renovate Nicollet Mall is on the table.

When Target announced in 2005 that it would significantly expand its Brooklyn Park campus, some real estate experts worried the retailer's commitment to downtown Minneapolis was waning. Instead, it has significantly strengthened its presence downtown.

Last September, the company purchased what some developers consider to be the crown jewel of developable downtown real estate: the 10th and Nicollet sites now home to vacant, low-lying buildings at 81 S. 10th St., 87 S. 10th St. and 1001 Nicollet Mall. The deal is worth an estimated $11 million to $13 million.

Target had also previously bought the former Church of Scientology building at 1013 Nicollet Mall for $3 million. The company also owns the naming rights to Target Center and the new Target Field, home to the Minnesota Twins.

Target's 10,000-or-so downtown employees are scattered throughout downtown -- at its headquarters, at City Center at 33 S. 6th St., in the former Crate and Barrel store at 9th and Nicollet and in the former Retek building, also on Nicollet Mall. The company has a two-story urban store at 9th and Nicollet Mall.