Kraus-Anderson Plans New Mpls. HQ With 250 Workers

Kraus-Anderson Construction Company announced Tuesday that it plans to consolidate its Twin Cities operations with a new 80,000-square-foot headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, for an estimated cost of $16 million.
 
The company’s new headquarters will be a four-story building with underground parking at the corner of Eighth Street South and Fifth Avenue South, less than a block from its current 25,000-square-foot headquarters.
 
Kraus-Anderson said the new building will consolidate its realty, construction, capital, and mortgage operations under one roof—housing about 250 total employees, which is double its current number of downtown employees—and will have room for future expansion.
 
The new building is being designed by St. Paul-based Pope Architects. Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in fall 2015.
 
Employees will be consolidated from Kraus-Anderson from its offices in Circle Pines, Bloomington, and its other Minneapolis offices. The company said its insurance arm, Kraus-Anderson Insurance, will continue to operate from its offices in Burnsville.
 
“Plans for the new KA headquarters facility are still in early development but our goal is to create a highly collaborative environment with leading-edge technology,” Mike Korsh, vice president and director of development for Kraus-Anderson Realty, said in a statement. “We’re getting input from our employees and also working closely with the city and the neighborhood to make the new facility an asset to all stakeholders.”
 
Intended amenities for the building include a training center, cafeteria, fitness center, formal and informal meeting areas, and a “well-landscaped exterior.”
 
“We’re working to create a modern, sustainable environment that complements the renewed vitality of east downtown, and reflects our collaborative approach and values,” Chairman and CEO Bruce Engelsma said in a statement. 
 
Twin Cities Business recently offered an in-depth look at some of the recent plans to overhaul Downtown East.
 
Kraus-Anderson is the fifth-largest general contractor in the state and said it is in a “growth mode,” hiring more than 100 new employees in the last year and boasting sales of more than $790 million in 2013. The company said it leases and manages more than 4 million square feet of commercial property and has developed more than 500,000 square feet of commercial properties over the past five years.
 
The company’s recent projects include the 114,000-square-foot Duluth International Airport Terminal and “The Marshall,” a 584,000-sqaure-foot student housing and mixed-use project near the University of Minnesota campus.