State of Downtown Minneapolis - 2012

[Twin Citian]

2012 was a great year for downtown Minneapolis.  Employment numbers are healthy again and downtown continues to be a hot spot for residential activity. 

Downtown Employment 

* Total employment is at 160,000

 

* The 15 largest downtown employers accounted for 50,240 jobs, up 8,000 jobs from 2010.

* Target alone, has added nearly 2,500 people to its downtown campus since 2010

* Downtown’s Top 15 Employers:
1.   Target - 12,239
2.   Wells Fargo - 7,000
3.   Hennepin County Medical Center - 5,800
4.   Ameriprise Financial - 5,650
5.   Hennepin County - 5,222
6.   U.S. Bank - 3,253
7.   City of Minneapolis - 2,146
8.   Xcel Energy - 1,348
9.   Capella University - 1,195
10. Thrivent Financial - 1,163
11. RBC Wealth Management - 1,150
12. Star Tribune – 1,136
13. TCF Financial Corp. - 1,046

14. Federal Reserve Bank of MPLS - 1,026
15. Macy’s - 866

Downtown’s residential population
* Downtown’s population rose 7 percent to 36,500 in 2012 and should double to 70,000 by 2025.

* 2,314 new housing units were approved for construction

* Nearly 500 downtown ­condominiums sold for an average price of $288,280, up 4 percent from 2011.

Downtown Office & Commercial Space
* About 400,000 square feet of office space was absorbed by new and expanding tenants.

 

* The vacancy rate for Class A space has dropped below 10 percent for the first time in five years.

 

* Xcel Energy is adding a nine-story office building across the Nicollet Mall from its headquarters.

 

* A Lunds supermarket and several adjacent shops have opened south end of Hennepin Avenue

 

* Construction began on downtown’s second supermarket, Whole Foods.

 

* Ethnic restaurants are doing well and specialty retailers, including Hubert White, LD Blues, Martin Patrick 3, Len Druskin and Allen Edmonds have solid business as well.  Department stores, including Target and Macy’s continue to be popular.

Downtown Entertainment
* Renovation of Orchestra Hall started.

* $950 million Vikings stadium was approved and construction is expected to start in 2013.

 

* $100 million renovation of the Target Center was approved and is expected to start in 2013.