Photo courtesy Infor
The Lawson Commons office building in downtown St. Paul has been renamed for business software firm Infor.
New York-based Infor has reaffirmed its commitment to the Twin Cities with a renewal of its lease in the building and plans to grow its current 650-person workforce by another 100 employees. The 13-story building officially became Infor Commons after a sign was put over the main entrance of the building near St. Peter and 5th streets last weekend.
"Renaming this building Infor Commons is a symbol of our commitment to accountability and promise to continue providing support and growth opportunities for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region," said Kevin Samuelson, Infor's chief executive, in a statement.
Infor takes up about 35% of the nearly 440,000-square-foot building that has been connected to the history of Lawson Software ever since the city built the $101 million office tower and attached parking ramp in 1999 to lure the software company from Minneapolis to St. Paul.
An affiliate of Infor acquired Lawson Software for about $2 billion in 2011. Infor, which has 17,300 employees worldwide, had considered leaving St. Paul in 2013 as its lease was close to expiring.
The company's commitment to stay in the capital city shines a positive light on downtown St. Paul's office market, which has seen recent job losses such as when Ditech Financial cut its workforce last year and Cray Inc. moved its offices to the Mall of America in 2017.
"It is good news for St. Paul that has faced the loss in the last few years of large employers," said Brian Field, general manager of Infor Commons for commercial real estate firm and building owner Frauenshuh.
Frauenshuh developed the building, which turns 20 this month, and originally purchased Lawson Commons from the city of St. Paul soon after it was completed in 2000. Frauenshuh later sold the property to the Behringer Harvard real estate investment trust before it repurchased it in 2016 with a different investment team.
According to its website, Infor Commons is about 94% leased.
