About 340,000 sf of retail space was converted to office space,says Jim Miller, a St. Paul-based commercial real estate broker andconsultant. Miller presented his report on the St. Paul officemarket Monday to a meeting of the St. Paul Building Owners &Managers Assn., which sponsored the report.

Between them, the new owners at the World Trade Center andGaltier Plaza have converted 256,000 sf of retail space to officespace last year. Combined with the opening of Lawson Commons andseveral smaller conversions, the new office space had a role inpushing up the vacancy rate in Downtown St. Paul to 5.5% from 4.5%a year ago. That rising vacancy came despite the fact that themarket absorbed more than 518,000 sf of space last year, the mostin five years or more.

Among buildings that compete for tenants--about 60% of theoverall market--the vacancy rate is 9.1%, the report concludes.That space now includes Minnesota Life's headquarters building at400 N. Robert St., formerly counted as "owner-occupied." The lifeinsurance company is offering seven floors for lease as it getsready to move some of its operations to its new building at 401 N.Robert.