MINNEAPOLIS—United Properties has acquired and renovated several downtown properties, and has now nearly completed the revival of a historic structure in the North Loop warehouse district. The Loose-Wiles building at 701 Washington Ave. N. was vacant when the Minneapolis-based company bought it in the summer of 2012, but after signing nine new leases in 2014, UP has brought it to more than 90% occupancy.

MarketingLab and Ovative/group signed up for the most space, at about 10,000-square-feet each. Other new leases recently signed include: Family Solutions Law Group, J.R. Paddon, Logistics Planning, North Loop Capital, Straight Line Theory, Thorsen/Post Net and Waterstone Mortgage. Only 7,000-square-feet of the 120,000-square-foot building remain available.

“Loose-Wiles is in a great location with many dining and transit options nearby. And the space gives tenants the true converted warehouse aesthetic,” says Jim Montez, Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, who represented United Properties in the transactions.

The Freehouse, a restaurant and brewhouse, is located on the first floor. Other tenants include Fields Law, LHB and RJM Construction. Once a commercial bakery, the seven-story building was constructed in 1910, and was soon purchased by the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Co. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it forms part of a district filled with commercial buildings that date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the city began its ascent as the region's manufacturing hub.

Over the past four years, UP has increased its investment and development activity in Minneapolis. Its projects include the renovation of the historic Ford Center and the sale of the 10th and Nicollet site to the Target Corporation. United Properties also bought Neiman Marcus' shuttered downtown store at 505 Nicollet Mall before selling it to Centerpoint Energy, Inc. which will renovate 100,000-square-foot, four-story building into mostly office use.