Shea move covered by Finance and Commerce

Shea plans move to Shinders building

Posted: 3:41 pm Thu, October 20, 2011

By  BRIAN JOHNSON

A new chapter is about to start for the long-shuttered Shinders building in downtown Minneapolis.

On Thursday, Minneapolis-based marketing and design firm Shea Inc. announced it has signed a 10-year lease with Zel-Wel LLC to move its headquarters into the former Shinders space on the prominent corner of Eighth Street and Hennepin Avenue.

Working with Welsh Construction, Shea plans to redo the two-story building and occupy about 8,000 square feet, including a small part of the first floor and the entire second floor.

Shea has occupied a couple of different spaces in nearby Butler Square over the past 20 years. It expects to move to the Shinders building in July, according to company spokesman Andy McDermott.

“Now we are in the middle of Butler Square, but [the new space] will give us a street presence we have not had before,” he said.

McDermott said a yet-to-be-disclosed restaurant is interested in occupying space on the lower level, first floor and rooftop.

Since it closed in 2007, the 22,000-square-foot Shinders building at 731 Hennepin Ave. has been a particular sore spot in a downtown district that had a 22.6 percent vacancy rate at the end of June.

One of the latest blows for Hennepin Avenue came in September, when the Hard Rock Café announced it was leaving the Block E retail and entertainment complex at 600 Hennepin Ave.

Other Block E closings include Applebee’s, Panchero’s Mexican Grill, Cold Stone Creamery, Borders, GameWorks, Ballanotte and Hooters.

Amid those somber developments, city officials see the Shinders deal as a welcome bit of good news for Hennepin Avenue.

“The businesses that are taking a chance on Hennepin just encourage more businesses to do the same, which creates more density and a vibrant downtown scene,” City Council Member Lisa Goodman said in a news release.

Herb Tousley, director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas, said the visible space on Hennepin Avenue is “definitely a plus” for Shea.

During the condo boom, there was talk of using the Shinders property and an adjacent parcel for a condominium tower, Tousley said. After those plans fizzled, nothing but an empty building remained.

“To get something like Shea in there is good for that part of downtown, because that is a visible space,” Tousley said.

After years of sitting empty, the building isn’t much to look at. Some bricks from the façade are missing, and a cavernous interior space with concrete pillars and bare walls is visible on the other side of the dirty, weather-beaten windowpanes.

Several of the panes and the front door are covered with thin sheets of plywood. Doodles, scribbles and a large peace sign are etched in the dirt on other windowpanes along the sidewalk.

Large banners on the windows proclaim that space in the building would be ideal for a retail or restaurant user.

In its previous life as a Shinders, the building was a hopping place, with racks of books, magazines, newspapers and comics that catered to just about every interest.

Built in 1947, the building was occupied by a Burger King and a Snyders Drug store before Shinders moved in.

“My understanding is it probably originally was a Snyders, and then it had a couple of other lives,” McDermott said.

Shea plans to do the architecture and interior design for its new space. Construction is expected to begin in January.

The project will preserve noteworthy features such as an interior spiral staircase and terrazzo flooring that has the old Snyders Drug logo on it, he said.

Shea had been looking for other downtown space before settling on the Shinders building.

“Our lease came up at Butler Square. We were looking at the Warehouse District,” McDermott said. “And this opportunity came up. … We are excited about it. It was off the path from where we were looking at originally, but now we are thrilled to be part of the Hennepin scene.”

Shea has been “seeking ways to reinvigorate” Hennepin Avenue and has designed spaces for Hennepin Avenue clients such as the Chambers Hotel, Solera, Crave, the Hennepin Theater Trust and City Center, according to a company news release.