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FEBRUARY 1999 REDEVELOPMENT t j. ;� `t 5 S= t �i aft' "7. Diamond In the rough former battery plant in Energy Park transformed by Hillcrest Development When Mid-continental Power Pool (MAPP) facilities manager Donna ) Taylor first saw the proposed site for _ Mom,G the new company headquarters, she was r stunned. gtLIgtg� �- 7 '` 7,�r � =ry "We first looked at it and we said,'You've got rc i 4 > to be kidding me,'"she sold. The run-down former baltery•manufacturing plant was little more than an eyesore to the Energy Park area of St.Paul.A dingy,oversized y4 ary�.�v ; ±ti• , t?h':" warehouse building, it had been mostly aban- doned over the past decade,used solely for low- level storage.Plus,contamination from lead and acid contributed to the structure's problems. But Scott Tankenoff of Minneapolis-based Iillcrest Development,a company that has built a reputation in redeveloping junk,"saw poten- tial In the 112,000-square-foot building and con- Le vinced MAPP officials. Less than two months ,, — • mat M cis y �, after the end of its redevelopment,the MAPP Center, 1125 Energy Park Drive,Is a source of pride for MAPP and the winner of the 1998 Best In Real Estate redevelopment category. and structural issues.That is,until Ihnkenoff Hillcrest, Beck Architects and KKE "It Is the best time for that building in Its lie- took a look at it. Architects look care of the contamination prob- time,"said Steve Toensing,a building inspector "It looked like a tear-down building," lem by scrubbing and sealing polluted areas. for St.Paul who also worked on the project."It Tankenoff said."But it was structurally solid. The biggest project was cleaning the lead pollu- has more integrity now than it ever did." We knew what we could do with this building." tion on the roof from around smokestacks. The building,which was purchased for$1.3 However, as with many redevelopments, The only other issues had to deal with crews million in cash,now serves as a high-tech cor• there was the issue of convincing a tenant and wanting to work all day.The city ordinance Ilm- porate office for MAPP,a company that studies investors. But as luck would have it, MAPP its construction to 7 am.to 6 p.m.When the and forecasts electrical use and serves as a wanted to move and had difficulty funding a site. work wag completed,everyone seemed pleased. clearinghouse in electricity transactions. The company had zoning issues because it "It's absolutely amazing what they've been Formerly housed in the Century Plaza building needed a microwave tower and large emergency able to do with this space,"Taylor said. inn downtown Minneapolis,MAPP's new home generators. The existing zoning for the site But it's this type of project that has built has all of its offices plus an indoor parking facll- already allowed such structures. MAPP also Hillcrest's reputation."We buy a lot of Junk," ity and a conference center.All of this came needed a lot of cheap space and room to grow. Tankenoff said about the 50-year-old company. from a beat-up building with a long history. Thus,redevelopment construction began in Tankenoff is the third generation to run the The factory was constructed in 1947 using June 1998 and the company moved in December. business."But with a lot of the buildings we buy, pressure-glued,laminated wood.It served as a But there were snags along the way.The we see there is a higher purpose." battery-manufacturing facility up until the late major problem was lead,acid and asbestos con- TankenoQ said he's most proud of sticking I9704,when it was more or less abandoned.As tamination,said Jens Beck,a main architect on within l percent of Hillcrest's budget and not Energy Park was redeveloped, this structure the project."It was kind of a rugged place,"he having to use public funding. was ignored because of environmental, code said."But we saw we could clean it up." ,lim,1larfgka