Ramsey County is stepping up its efforts to find a buyer for the nearly 120-year-old Ramsey County East building, a longtime home for county services on a prominent site in downtown St. Paul.
A landmark overlooking the Mississippi River, the building sits on a 3.2-acre site at 160 E. Kellogg Blvd. The county, which is working with CBRE to market the property, is putting the 375,000-square-foot building up for sale as part of a plan to relocate employees to the Metro Square building.
The Health and Wellness Service Team is the major occupant of the Ramsey County East building, along with Financial Assistance Services and Social Services, said Casper Hill, the county’s media relations manager. The building has been closed to the public since January 2022, though some employees still work there, he said.
Roughly 900 employees will relocate to Metro Square, but only a few have moved to date, he said.
“Space has been identified at Metro Square for staff from the East Building to move into a strategically created functional and enjoyable work environment,” Hill said in an email. Hill added that the phased closure of the Ramsey County East Building allows time to renovate parts of the Metro Square building. Metro Square renovations are underway and scheduled for completion in 2025.
Located at 121 Seventh Place E., Metro Square currently houses the Ramsey County Service Center and offices for Community Corrections , Human Resources , Information Services and the RamseyCounty Attorney's Office Civil and Child Support division, according to the county’s website .
Hill said the consolidation within Metro Square “will eliminate nearly 400,000 square feet of space and associated costs. Additionally, the county believes there is a market for the East Building due to its downtown location on the bluff.”
On May 30, CBRE released a “Memorandum of Offering” for “site redevelopment or a large user for a downtown office location,” according to a county staff report. At the June 18 county board meeting, CBRE will update the board on its plan to market the property “both locally and nationally,” the report says.
Built in 1905, the concrete and steel Ramsey County East building offers 333,424 square feet of “net rentable area,” 212 stalls of onsite parking, 14-foot ceiling heights on the main level, four passenger elevators and two freight elevators, according to a CBRE marketing brochure. A new roofing system was installed in 2012.
The site is within walking distance of the Union Depot, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Kellogg Mall Park and other downtown St. Paul attractions.
The building comes on the market during a challenging time for commercial real estate sales, especially in the office category.
CBRE’s Q1 2024 Office Market Report for the Twin Cities reveals that office sales volume totaled $170 million in the first quarter. Suburban sales represented 98% of total activity and “continued to outpace downtown sales,” according to the report.
The direct vacancy rate in the St. Paul central business district is 18.9% as of the first quarter, the report says.
Even so, the Twin Cities has seen some activity of late.
Finance & Commerce reported earlier this week that Real Capital Solutions of Colorado paid $60.7 million for the Blue Cross Blue Shield campus at 3400 Yankee Drive and 1800 Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan. The buildings had been on the market since April.
Previously, as Finance & Commerce reported, the most notable Twin Cities office sale in the first six months of the year was a $48.8 million deal for the CHS headquarters in Inver Grove Heights. The CHS building was repurchased after a previous sale leaseback.
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