Allina Adds Additional Jobs at its New Midtown Exchange
MINNEAPOLIS (February 25, 2005) — Ryan Companies US, Inc. announced today that Allina Hospitals & Clinics will add an additional 475 employees at the future site of Allina Commons, the health system's new headquarters in Midtown Exchange. With the additional positions, a total of nearly 1,500 Allina employees will be located at Midtown Exchange by mid 2006. Allina is the anchor tenant of the mixed-use development on the former Sears site at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis. To accommodate the new employees, Allina will occupy an additional 85,000 square feet of space, bringing its total office space to over 340,000 of the nearly 1.1 million square feet of space at the site.
"Allina's commitment to the Midtown area of south Minneapolis has been a catalyst for bringing energy and investment to the Midtown Exchange project," said Rick Collins, Vice President of Development, Ryan Companies. "We're excited to see Allina bring an even greater number of jobs to the neighborhood and continue the project's commitment to neighborhood revitalization. The Midtown neighborhood is quickly becoming a hotbed of job growth and urban renaissance in the Twin Cities."
"We also owe a debt of gratitude to the neighborhoods surrounding the site, the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program, and Hennepin County, who have been tremendously supportive of our efforts to support Allina's transition to a new headquarters," Collins said. "Hennepin County recently increased its commitment to the project and the new Allina jobs by providing an additional $220,000 grant to help offset environmental costs."
A portion of these additional employees will relocate to the headquarters upon its completion later this year, and the remainder will join the new campus in mid-2006.
"This type of creative corporate and neighborhood collaboration will create new opportunities for income growth in the neighborhood and provide more customers to Lake Street businesses," said Bob Miller, Director, Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program. "We want to continue to expand the longstanding and positive relationship between Allina and its neighbors and make this a model of cooperation between residents and the businesses in their community."
Allina announced in early 2004 that it would consolidate its system employees into one campus at Midtown Exchange. Currently, Allina's administrative employees are spread across locations in eight Twin Cities communities. Allina estimates that this consolidation will result in significant savings in real estate, travel and labor costs. Allina Commons will occupy the Greenway level, the first and second floors, and floors 5 - 9 of the north office tower of the historic building at Midtown Exchange. Of Midtown Exchange's 1.1 million square feet, only approximately 77,000 square feet remain available for lease.
"Allina's presence is bringing more employees and future job opportunities to this area, and will help support the multicultural entrepreneurs who have built a thriving commerce center in the Lake Street corridor," Collins said. "Employees who work in the Midtown Exchange will enjoy many building amenities such as the Midtown Global Market, with 60 different food vendors, and area shopping. Midtown-area workers also appreciate the lower cost of living and easy access to downtown Minneapolis, making the neighborhood a magnet for skilled workers and professionals."
Midtown Exchange is a mixed-use historic landmark redevelopment in the Midtown district of Minneapolis, which is located approximately two miles south of downtown Minneapolis at the intersection of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue. In addition to Allina Commons, the site will also feature the Midtown Global Market, a 136-room, full service Sheraton Hotel, rental and ownership housing, restaurant/retail space and access to Metro Transit bus facilities, creating a new and prosperous hub of activity for area residents. Ryan Companies and project co-developers officially broke ground on the project in September 2004. Parts of the development will open in 2005. The entire complex is scheduled for completion in 2006.
Ryan Companies US, Inc. is a leading national commercial real estate firm offering integrated design-build and development as well as asset, property and facilities management services to customers. For more than 67 years, Ryan Companies has used a single-source approach that offers flexibility in defining the scope of a project and strength in providing effective, timely solutions resulting in a higher certainty of success. In addition to its Minneapolis office, Ryan has offices in Chicago, Phoenix, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines, Iowa .