MINNEAPOLIS—The CBD here is one of the healthiest in the US, and new developments are also springing up just to the east in Elliot Park. Kraus-Anderson has its headquarters there on a block at 5th Ave. at 9^th St., and plans to remake this space into a mixed-use development with a consolidated home office, a 17-story residential tower, a microbrewery, and The Elliot, a new 8-story luxury hotel.

Designed by ESG Architects, The Elliot, planned to be a 165-unit Autograph Collection hotel by Marriott, will include a restaurant, bar, event space and meeting rooms, and will be connected to the microbrewery.

“Our vision is to create a neighborhood within a neighborhood,” Michael Hille, senior vice president of development, Kraus-Anderson, tells GlobeSt.com. “We didn't want just another office building; this is going to be a real community that is active 24/7.”

In April, KA began construction on its new five-story, 100,000-square-foot headquarters, which will consolidate its Twin Cities operations under one roof in a new, build-to-suit LEED facility. The new headquarters will house about 300 employees, doubling the current downtown staff with room for future expansion on the site. Designed by Pope Architects, planned amenities include a fitness center, educational training center, rooftop deck, cafeteria, formal and informal meeting areas, and a well-landscaped exterior.

This shift is part of a migration of many firms into the downtown area. “It strengthens our relationship with the city of Minneapolis,” Hille says. But it will also give employees, many located across the metro area, access to the many amenities and cultural offerings. “Working downtown doesn't make you feel isolated the way you can in the suburbs.”

The company has been in this neighborhood for many decades, but Hille says the area kind of lost its way in the 1970s. Now, however, the surrounding streets are booming, a revival partially driven by the new US Bank Stadium. And with Hennepin County Medical Center undergoing a $220 million expansion, he expects that revival to continue well into the future.

Wilkinson Corp. will develop The Elliot in cooperation with KA. The hotel's brick exterior will include metal clad bays and large windows, a transparent first floor, and a new streetscape with large canopy trees. A hotel guest drop-off for automobiles and the restaurant will both have dedicated entrances off 5th Ave.

Meanwhile, the block's transformation continues. This month, KA topped off its headquarters building and began vertical construction of H.Q., the residential tower.

KA teamed with ESG Architects to develop the master plan for the entire block. The plan was guided by the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association and the Elliot Park Neighborhood Group.

Meanwhile, the block's transformation continues. This month, KA topped off its headquarters building and began vertical construction of H.Q., the residential tower.

KA teamed with ESG Architects to develop the master plan for the entire block. The plan was guided by the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association and the Elliot Park Neighborhood Group.

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Kraus-Anderson Remaking Entire City Block

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