Chicago-based Inland Real Estate Group has acquired the former Ecolab University Center in downtown St. Paul with plans to convert the 16-story tower into modern apartment complex with up to 175 units.
Inland, which confirmed the acquisition Monday, has high hopes for the building, which comes with a troubled history that includes the loss of its anchor office tenant, foreclosures, and previous ill-fated attempts at revitalization.
IVP St. Paul MF Conversion LLC, an entity related to Inland Real Estate, paid $17.87 million for the property, according to a certificate of real estate value made public on Jan. 20. Chicago-based St. Paul Wabasha Partners LLC was the seller.
Joe Cosenza, vice chairman, director and one of the four original principals of The Inland Real Estate Group LLC, said in an interview Monday that the building is suitable for about 174 or 175 apartment units.
Working with Kaeding Development Group on construction, Inland is investing roughly $35 million in the project “all in,” Cosenza said.
Cosenza said the building is appealing in part because of its convenient location and access to the city’s skyway system.
“I think it’s the only apartment complex in downtown St. Paul that’s connected to all of the walkways,” he said. “You can walk down to the ice skating rink, you can walk to restaurants. … I think that uniqueness in and of itself will be something that tenants will gravitate toward.”
The building, which was built in 1971 and renovated in 1997, was in receivership prior to the sale. Cosenza said Inland was contacted by the lender that ended up with the property.
“We were able to step in and hopefully we will be able to make it into a an extremely nice building for St. Paul,” he said.
Cosenza said that all of the walls are down and “everything is wide open” within the building. Inland isn’t planning any non-residential uses, such as retail, but the first floor will be a “nice lobby area,” he said.
The project could be completed within 18 months, he said.
Inland takes over a building that was once fully occupied by St. Paul-based Ecolab Inc., a provider of environmental services and goods. Ecolab leased space inside the building, which is at the southeast corner of Wabasha Street North and Sixth Street East.
But the building’s future became murky in 2015, when Ecolab set in motion a plan to move its St. Paul operations to the former Travelers Cos. location at 360 N. Wabasha St. Ecolab paid $47 million for the Travelers building.
Finance & Commerce reported in June 2017 that the Ecolab building was taken over by a court-appointed receiver after its New York-based owners, C&K, allegedly defaulted on the mortgage. C&K had owned the building since 2006.
St. Paul Wabasha Partners LLC, an entity related to the Chicago-based Freedom Development Group, paid $5.35 million for the building in November 2018.
Finance & Commerce reported in 2018 that Freedom Development Group owner John E. Thomas and Wheaton, Illinois-based T2 Capital Management planned to add a health club and ground-floor restaurant. Thomas said told Finance & Commerce at the time that he even planned to explore adding floors to the building.
On its website, Freedom Development Group said in 2020 that it planned to convert the building to apartments and a Jet Foods supermarket. Though the project was not completed, some conversion work moved forward.
Finance & Commerce reported in August 2020 that St. Paul Wabasha Partners LLC and its contractor, Jet Structures LLC, pulled a $3.9 million permit for an interior improvement at the building.
But in December 2021, the property was again placed in receivership, according to media reports.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported in February 2022 that work inside the building stalled after unpaid contractors walked off the job. The newspaper reported that contractors filed more than $2.5 million in mechanic’s liens.
KSTP-TV reported in August that Thomas and his company were accused of defaulting on a nearly $12 million loan related to the building.
Joe Spencer, president of the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance, said Monday that it’s exciting to see a “good, quality developer” take over the site.
“It’s a great site. Unfortunately, it got tangled up with a colorful character that wasn’t able to perform. I’m really glad to see some movement there. Adding residents to that building, to that part of downtown, is going to be just fantastic,” he said.
