“Go West, young man!” Investors increasingly choose the West submarket The West had the lowest office vacancy rate in the metro in Q3 with rents rivaling the Minneapolis CBD. Last week, Artis REIT and Ryan Cos. announced plans to build a speculative 14-story office tower on I-394 next to the Carlson Center in Minnetonka. Early renderings show a total of 317,000 square feet of leasable office space above an executive lobby and climate-controlled parking. In Q3, the West saw one of the priciest office sales in its history when the Class A Golden Hills Office Center sold for $36.3 million ($190 p.s.f.) as part of Investors Real Estate Trust’s divestment of its office portfolio. That single sale was almost as substantial as the submarket’s total Q2 office investment sales.

1. Minneapolis–St. Paul
“Go West, young man!” Investors increasingly
choose the West submarket
Chart of the week: October 26, 2015
• The West had the lowest office vacancy rate in the metro in Q3 with rents rivaling the Minneapolis CBD.
Last week, Artis REIT and Ryan Cos. announced plans to build a speculative 14-story office tower on I-
394 next to the Carlson Center in Minnetonka. Early renderings show a total of 317,000 square feet of
leasable office space above an executive lobby and climate-controlled parking.
• In Q3, the West saw one of the priciest office sales in its history when the Class A Golden Hills Office
Center sold for $36.3 million ($190 p.s.f.) as part of Investors Real Estate Trust’s divestment of its office
portfolio. That single sale was almost as substantial as the submarket’s total Q2 office investment sales.
Source: JLL Research
Class A vacancy and rental rates in West submarket
$26.29
$27.89
$27.25
$27.93 $28.04
$28.80
$30.50
14.7%
15.8%
17.4%
13.0% 12.8%
9.3%
10.0%
$24
$25
$26
$27
$28
$29
$30
$31
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Q3 2015
Class A rental rate Class A vacancy