Liberty Seeks Tenants for 120,000-SF Office

Rick Weiblen, VP of development for Liberty, says there has been some interest in the property, due to the Golden Triangle's area of popularity. "There's a heavy concentration of office buildings, with a lot of tenants expanding their offices. We want to make sure we have a building available for that expansion, or for new tenants coming in," he tells GlobeSt.com. The building will be offered for lease for $19.85 per sf, net, company officials say. The company would not divulge how much it will cost to build the facility.

Liberty owns and manages nearly four million sf of office, flex and industrial space in the Minnesota area, including about 1.5 million sf in the Golden Triangle area. Nationwide, the company is has about four million sf of LEED certified space completed and in development, including the 58-story Comcast Center office tower in Philadelphia. This new property in Eden Prairie, if it earns the certification, would be the second LEED space developed in Minnesota, recently leasing out a LEED-certified, 56,000-sf new office building at 7625 Smetana Lane in Eden Prairie to Compellent Technologies Inc.

"We're pretty dedicated to sustainable development," Weiblen says. "We've been around long enough to see the proven benefits to the productivity of employees and efficiencies. It was interesting on the Compellent deal, the certification wasn't a major priority for the tenant. But now that they've been here awhile, they're enjoying the clean air and efficient space, they're saying they will not move into another building unless it's LEED certified." Liberty Plaza will include a high-tech HVAC system, locally-found stone and other building materials, and energy-efficient fixtures.