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| Ryan Companies' vision of the
future for the Midtown Exchange. Allina will occupy
the northern (lefthand) side of the original 1928 former
Sears building. |
Updated 02/04—Allina
Hospitals and Clinics announced on February 18 that the
company will consolidate its corporate operations in the
Midtown Exchange on Lake Street in south Minneapolis.
The decision by
the state’s largest nonprofit healthcare provider
solidified the Midtown Exchange developer’s plans
to convert the former Sears site into a mixed-use, multi-modal
center. And it rewarded years of improvement efforts by
groups in the surrounding neighborhoods.
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| Allina CEO Richard Pettingill |
The new headquarters,
called Allina Commons, will house 1,000 employees and include
an educational conference center.
“While cost
savings were a primary factor, Allina’s mission and
values were key in our decision,” said Richard Pettingill,
CEO.
Close proximity
to Allina’s Abbott Northwestern Hospital, located
across the street from the Midtown Exchange, and the community
renewal opportunity for the Phillips and Powderhorn Park
neighborhoods were major factors, added Pettingill.
“We will
be part of the fabric of the community. Whether that be
through supporting economic development or through community
improvement initiatives, we want the community through our
good deeds to know us and trust us as good neighbors.”
The Allina Foundation
and Abbott Northwestern Hospital, the largest facility in
the Allina network, have been among the institutional leaders
of the unique public-private partnerships, including the
MCW Partnership, that have guided major improvements in
the inner-city core of south Minneapolis since the 1990s.
Working with neighborhood
groups, these partnerships have helped to launch successful
crime fighting initiatives, improve the local housing stock,
create leading employment training programs, and guide major
improvements to infrastructure and public amenities.
The Midtown Exchange
site has sat vacant for more than a decade.
In January of
this year the City of Minneapolis awarded Ryan Companies
exclusive development rights pending a final development
agreement in June. With Allina as the anchor component,
the development plan has received the boost it needs to
move forward, said Rick Collins, who heads Ryan’s
Midtown Exchange development team.
Allina will sign
a 20-year lease to occupy seven floors in the original 1928
structure. The move will consolidate corporate employees
from 11 locations in the metropolitan area. The sale of
two nearby real estate holdings, one at 1801 Nicollet and
the other on Willow Street near Loring Park, will help to
offset relocation costs.
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Reaction
from the Community
“With
Allina joining our community, it’s like putting the
final pieces of a puzzle together. Their company will bring
stability to an area that needs it, and we look forward
to new Allina jobs drawn from the local community. This
is a major accomplishment for south Minneapolis. Allina
has been a part of years of efforts by large groups and
individual residents to turn the Phillips West neighborhood
around.”
—Muriel Simmons, Phillips West
Neighborhood Association
“We
at the Lake Street Council and the Bloomington Cedar Lake
Commercial Association are terribly pleased by Allina's
decision, and look forward to working with them as another
partner in the continuing redevelopment of Lake Street,
building a south Minneapolis community we can all be even
more proud of.”
—Julie Ingebretsen, President,
Lake Street Council
“There’s
no turning back for Lake Street. With Allina as part of
the Midtown Exchange, our neighborhoods have a bright future
—more jobs and a higher quality of life. Everyone
can be proud at this announcement. Our neighborhoods provided
the vision of a revitalized Sears complex, our team at the
City shouldered the hard negotiations and Allina stepped
up as a model of corporate leadership.”
—Council Member Gary Schiff
“Together
with Wells Fargo’s investment in their Home Mortgage
campus and Abbott Northwestern’s Heart Hospital, Allina's
decision completes a trifecta of major private sector commitments
that grew out of our public-private partnerships. Add the
public investments in light rail transit, the reconstruction
of Lake Street, I-35W Access, and housing, and you have
an amazing story of patient, hard work leading to historic
results that will transform our city for generations.”
—County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin
“Allina’s
decision is great news for the neighborhood and Wells Fargo.
We have been working together with Allina and Abbott Northwestern
for years in the Phillips neighborhood. It was our mutual
commitment to the neighborhood and the Partnership that
led Wells Fargo to invest over $175 million in our Home
Mortgage offices at the former Honeywell site. Over 4,000
people will be working here by the end of next year, and
we are thrilled that 1,000 Allina employees will now be
coming to the neighborhood at the Midtown Exchange building.”
—Susie Davis, Vice President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
“It’s one of the great success stories of the
city today. And it’s a product of years of effort
by community groups to revitalize an area that had been
written off.”
—Mayor
R.T. Rybak
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