An update on the Nicollet. Also, rumor has it that the penthouses have both been reserved and are priced around 7 million a piece...
The Nicollet, after delays, now on track for 2Q 2006 start
Ownership situation changes for 50-story Mpls. condo project
Staff Writer REJournals.com
The Nicollet, a planned 50-floor condominium building in downtown Minneapolis, is on track for a second-quarter 2006 groundbreaking after a shift in its ownership positions caused a delay, according to its developers.
One of The Nicollet's original 50 percent owners, project originator Jeffrey McDonell, has sold his equity position to partner HPO Nicollet LLC, an entity comprised of developers Dan Hunt of Hunt Associates and Len Pratt and John Ordway of Pratt Ordway Properties.
McDonell, a landscape architect who designed the proposed building's distinctive curving arc and guided it through the complex city approval process, says he has retained a stake in the project as a paid consultant.
Hunt says McDonell continues as a valuable member of The Nicollet's team.
"In our search for financing we discovered it would require some other partners, and in mid-October or early November we made an offer to buy Jeff out," Hunt says. "That deal closed in late November. Jeff is staying on, though, because it's really his dream and he came up with it. He's also very well versed on the city entitlement process, and he's one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the project."
Pre-sales are going well for The Nicollet, to be located at 10th Street South and the Nicollet Mall, Hunt says, with 115 prospective condo owners paying $5,000 apiece to upgrade their original $1,000 placeholders into reservations. A total of 314 units are planned for the building.
"We plan to go out to the banks to seek project financing in the next 45 days or so, at which time we'll also convert these reservations into purchase agreements," he says. "We hope to break ground in the second quarter of 2006."
That's about six months later than originally planned. But Hunt says the delay hasn't caused many prospective buyers to back out of the $200 million project, which when completed would become the state's tallest residential building.
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