A Seattle-based real estate company won a bidding war for one of the first residential conversion projects in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Goodman Real Estate paid the estate of developer James Stanton $19.2 million for 96 apartments in the Riverwalk Flats and 10,000 square feet of office condo space in the nearby Riverwalk Lofts building.
"In a submarket where a lot of the properties look pretty similar, that was a truly unique, irreplaceable asset," said Lance Steiger. "There's deep demand from both in-state and out-of-state investors with no signs of slowing."
Steiger and Robert Dulin of Cushman & Wakefield had the listing.
Stanton, a pioneering developer who died in June, converted the red- and yellow-brick buildings into housing in the mid-1980s. The Lofts were later converted into condominiums, while the Flats — the former freight house for Northwestern Railroad — remained apartments.
The buildings, which were built in the late 1800s, are just a couple blocks from the Mississippi River on the northeast quadrant of First Street N. and Fourth Avenue N. not far from Target Field.
Riverwalk Flats has 40 townhouse-style units and 56 flats with exposed yellow brick, rustic timber beams and high ceilings. The rentals and four condo units in the Lofts building were marketed together in an auction-style manner that let buyers set the price. Steiger and Dulin received 19 offers, including six from out-of-state investors.
Lynn Leegard, president of Shamrock Development and a trustee for the estate, said that the rental portion of the listing by itself was worth $17.7 million.
"Lance and Robert, along with the rest of Cushman & Wakefield team, did an amazing job representing our company in this transaction," Leegard said.
Stanton, the longtime principal of Coon Rapids-based Shamrock Development, was the owner of Riverdale Ventures LLC, which developed 10 condominium projects in Minneapolis.
The first six were in the North Loop, including Lindsay Lofts, Rock Island Lofts, 212 Lofts, Security Warehouse Lofts, 5th Avenue Lofts and Riverwalk.
The next two were located in the Mill City District, including Bridgewater and Stonebridge.
Shortly before Stanton died at age 81, he finished the Portland Tower in Downtown East and started Legacy Lofts, a 374-unit condo project in the Mill District.
Stanton died in the midst of securing construction financing for Legacy Lofts. Provident Real Estate Ventures provided a $130 million senior loan and the project has remained on schedule, Leegard said.
Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376
