Target has finalized a $110 million agreement to terminate its lease at City Center, ending its ties to nearly 1 million square feet of downtown Minneapolis office space. The retailer vacated the space in 2021, but had remained contractually obligated to pay rent through 2031 with no termination option. The commitment was disclosed when the loan was securitized in 2022 while Target’s space already sat dark.

Target originally announced its intention to exit the tower in early 2021, informing the approximately 3,500 employees based there that they would transition to permanent remote work. While the company has since instituted a requirement for corporate staff to be in the office at least three days a week, those teams have been consolidated into Target’s other downtown properties near its Nicollet Mall headquarters, rather than returning to City Center.

The property’s $130 million loan had been structured around Target’s rent, thereby buying time for the owner to find new tenants. When that approach stalled, the loan moved to special servicing ahead of its January 2025 maturity. Proceeds from the buyout were used to pay down roughly half of the outstanding debt, bringing the securitized balance to approximately $67 million and providing the owner a cleaner slate to market the asset.

Originally completed in 1983 and renovated between 2019 and 2020, City Center is a 51-story landmark spanning roughly 2.2 million square feet of office, retail and storage space.

An affiliate of Samsung acquired the complex in 2018 for a then-record $320 million and is now preparing to bring it back to market. With Target having occupied more than 60% of the office space at securitization, its formal exit places pressure on valuation.

How City Center ultimately trades will be a defining measure of the Minneapolis office market’s floor. According to Yardi Research data, average asking rents in the Twin Cities stand at $27.51 per square foot with vacancy at 17.8% — up 130 basis points in the past year. While the market recorded $806 million in office sales across 2025, activity has started out slow so far this year with just $25 million in deals made.