Target is reportedly paying nearly $110 million to end a lease on its downtown Minneapolis office space, having previously agreed to rent the space until 2031.
The mega-retailer made the decision to end the lease at the City Center building last month, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Target moved its operations out of the building five years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, but never returned. Target had been in the building since it opened in 1983
A spokesperson for Target told the paper that the company is still committed to downtown Minneapolis. It had been the largest retailer in downtown Minneapolis until 2024 when it was overtaken by Hennepin Healthcare.
Target grew out of the Dayton Dry Goods Company, which began its operations in 1902 in Minneapolis. On its website, Target says it and its Target Foundation have donated more than 9 million pounds of food, given more than $32 million worth of products and cash, and dedicated more than 74,000 volunteer hours to the Minneapolis community.
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for the company. More recently, Target has attracted the ire of some in Minneapolis and around the country for its alleged co-operation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protesters with Indivisible Charlottesville who participated in "Project Salt" — in which customers bought salt from Target and returned in an effort to jam up lines and cause long waits at Target stores — accused the company of allowing "ICE and other federal agents to stage their Minnesota operations in their parking lots and permitted ICE agents to enter their stores to detain employees.”
The Independent has requested comment from Target. There is no indication that its decision to break its City Center lease was influenced by ongoing anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis.
The City Center tower is not Target's only property in downtown Minneapolis. After the company called its employees back to in-office work, they returned to other office spaces around downtown, but not the City Center.
The company did attempt to sublet its space in the building, but only managed to attract one tenant — the Fox Rothschild law firm — which moved in in 2022.
Samsung, which owns the City Center, is preparing to list the 51-story tower, according to a February 2 loan servicer report.
The tech company purchased the City Center in 2018 for $320 million, and began a $3 million renovation the following year.
Unfortunately for Samsung, it purchased the building just two years before the coronavirus pandemic forced practically the entire country to work from home, leaving much of its newly purchased space sitting empty.
City officials estimate that the building is worth approximately $117 million as of last year, which is half of what it was worth five years ago, according to the paper.
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