Developer buys prime sites in Bloomington, Hopkins - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Hoyt, who heads Wayzata-based , has retained to market the propertty nationally for a corporate campus with 500to 1,00o0 jobs for one or more Deere, the Moline, Ill.-based farm-equipment manufacturer, put the facility on the markegt in February. It closed the 200,000-square-foott warehouse in April. Tom Simon, firstf vice president in CB Richard Bloomington office, will kick off a national marketingf campaign in about two weeks to find tenantes for the site. Simon said he'ds already had about a half-dozen serious inquiriee about the building sincew the startof October.
CB Richard Ellisa is listing the building for saleat $20 but that price is likely to go up based on initialk demand and rising constructiomn costs for comparable new Simon said. He would not disclose Deere'ws selling price to Hoyt. Deer e officials and Hoyt could not be reachedrfor comment. Continental Property Group, which had revenue of $53 million in has developed and owns millions of square feet across the country. It annually ranks betweehn fifth and 10th on TheBusiness Journal's list of the Top 25 Real Estatse Developers in the Twin Simon said the new owner is "already in negotiations for adding onto the building Simon said. He declined to provide furthee details.
The existing buildinb could be expanded upto 600,000 or 800,000 square Simon said. That would stillp leave room on the site foradditionalk development. "We will look to maximizde that site and are lookinfg forgood high-paying jobs to replacse the ones that were lost," he Deere had about 130 employeezs at the facility as of 2000. The parce is zoned for industrial space, and Simon doesn'r see it being a big residentialoredevelopment site, although he didn't completelyy rule out some housing. "We are investigating all our he said.
In addition to the Deerr facility, Continental closed this week on anothert significant vacant industrialbuilding -- this one in Hopkins -- that Simo is marketing for potentiap users. The property is a 355,000-square-foot warehouse on 16 acres that was formerlu the headquarters ofRainbow Foods. The building, at 8000 Excelsior Blvd., is on the north side of the street, just east of Blak Road. Continental has been working on buyingg the property for more than two yearas in acomplex "multi-legged transaction," Simon The deal was complicated by the bankruptcy of Rainbow'z former parent company, Fleming Cos. Inc.
of Lewisville, and the various stakesx of insurance firms andformer Now, the property will have one owner and a fresh start, Simon said. Continentalk plans to start rightt away on overdue repairs tothe roof, heatingy and electrical systems. Like the Bloomingtonb property, Simon said this site is being marketed for lease or for The asking priceis $10