United Properties to Go “Spec” on Maple Grove Industrial Building

United Properties has closed on a site in Maple Grove where it is planning to build a large industrial building ‘on spec’ — meaning it’ll move ahead even without signed lease deals.

The Bloomington-based developer will begin construction Sept. 15 on what it calls the Red Rock Industrial Building, with 32-foot ceiling and 320,000 square feet of space, near the intersection of County Road 81 and 85th Avenue North. The company bought the site for $4.17 million from Maple Grove-based Raven Investments.

In May, I reported that United Propertieswas asking the city to let it develop two separate buildings on the 22-acre site, totaling 320,000 square feet. Instead, the developer decided to build one large building due to “tenant requirements in the market and rising construction costs,” according to a United Properties press release.

“We appreciate the city’s willingness to work with us to amend the plans and keep us on schedule,” Brandon Champeau, vice president, United Properties in the release.

Lampert Architects, St. Paul, is designing the building. EVS Inc., Eden Prairie, is the engineer and Minneapolis-based RJM Construction is the general contractor. Brokers Jon Yanta, Jason Meyer and Brent Masica, all from Bloomington-based Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, are marketing the property for lease.

The vacancy rate for multi-tenant industrial space in the northwest submarket was 9.6 percent at mid-year, the lowest of all submarkets, according to Cushman & Wakefield/NothMarq’s Compass Report.

The short supply of large new warehouse and distribution spaces has prompted several new speculative industrial developments in the northwestern Twin Cities suburbs. For example,First Industrial Realty Trust ( with a project in Brooklyn Park), CSM Corp. ( Rogers and Brooklyn Park) and United Properties (with this site in Maple Grove and a site in Brooklyn Park) have buildings either under construction or expected to break ground this year. Liberty Property Trust started grading a Dayton property it closed on this week and expects to have 247,000 square feet ready in the spring.

Source: Minneapolis Business Journal