Update on the Midway

It's hard to see from this photo, but the contractor is placing concrete ceiling over the basement portion of the building.  Steel beams come net week, then it will really start looking like a building.   Now if we can get this rain to stop......

The basement is going in at 661 LaSalle R. J. Ryan is doing a great job getting us started with our new project. You can see the basement and a doorway into the stairwell.

Sometimes its hard to believe the transformation we have made, even when we worked on it ! Here's a photo from around 1980 when we first purchased the building at 2325 Endicott St.   We removed the addition that was on the right, later we put windows back in the blocked up openings.   In 2013 the Urban Growler did the rest.

The digging has started for the foundation of 661 LaSalle.   Now we need warm and dry weather for October and November so we can get cement work done before it's too cold.

We are excited to welcome our newest tenant: READING PARTNERS Reading Partners is a nation wide nonprofit organization that pairs volunteers with low-income students  to help increase student reading skills. Please visit their site   www.readingpartners.org   for more information They are located at 2300 Myrtle Avenue

Part of managing buildings includes the replacement of old air conditioners.   Pretty fun to watch the cranes place huge units up on the roof.   We are excited for the new units which should be more efficient and more reliable than the 20 year old machines.

One of the things i like best about our long history in the Midway is the long term relationships we enjoy with our tenants.    THANK YOU  FOR THE LEASE RENEWALS CodeWeavers - 5 Years Legal Services Advocacy Project  - 17 Years      North American Council on Adoptable Children - 22 Years!!  

My tenants at 970 Raymond and 2380 Wycliff will be excited to hear that the City of St. Paul will be adding improvements to Hampden Park in 2016.  The park will get some added landscaping, benches and a plaza on the Hampden/Raymond corner.  This will be a great place to eat lunch or just take a quick stroll.

There is a weekly blog written by St. Anthony Park Community Foundation director Jon Schumacher that has lots of news and information for neighbors in St. Anthony Park.   I love reading about the developments, activities and people in our corner of St. Paul.  Thanks Jon!! Read Jon's Blog - What I Know - here

We are so happy to have a neighborhood coffee house!   Welcome to Workhorse Coffee  2399 University Avenue 1/2 block east of Raymond

Last week I was excited to attend the 2nd annual Midway Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Summit. The theme this year was talking about the next generation of workers in the Midway.   The next generation of workers will be more urban and more diverse.    In Minnesota today, 1 out of 5 children under 4 have at lease one immigrant parent.   That's amazing. Successful companies will need to embrace ethnic and cultural diversity.  Minnesota's foreign born population has tripled since 1990, growing faster than the national average. The millennial workers - our youngest generation working born 1982-2000 - want their company to be engaged in the community.  They want meaningful jobs that contribute to the company and to society.  They also are concerned about commuting and prefer locations that have transit options.   Maybe it's because they watched their parents suffer with long commute times!  Millennials are more likely to live in the ...

We are excited that the American Civil Liberties Union - Minnesota Foundation has renewed its lease with us. I did a little research and the ACLU has been around since the early 1920's and the Minnesota branch was  founded in 1952 as the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union.  The ACLU protects the civil liberties of all Minnesotans through litigation, public education, and lobbying.  They do not accept government funding and they are nonpartisan.   So thanks ACLU for the business and thanks also for being civil rights supporters. 

661 LaSalle - A First Look at the New Building !! We are excited to post the architect's rendering of the proposed building at 661 LaSalle St.   We have submitted plans for site plan review and hopefully the City will approve the project. It will be 3 stories, roughly 7,000 sq. ft. of office space per floor.  If all goes as planned we will be able to start digging in June 2015 and finish construction in early 2016.   

FINALLY !!   We just finished tearing down the last of the little garage that was left on the property.  Now we are ready to begin work on our new project !!   I think the neighborhood is ready for a new office building.

Things have been busy here at Update!   We have been working on a number of lease renewals this month and are pleased to report the following tenants are staying with us: Acts Media Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Viking Industrial Academy Mayer Language Center Medical Evaluation Specialists One of the best parts of being a smaller hands-on business is that we get to know our tenants a nd can cultivate long term relationships with them.  We really appreciate it.  Thanks.