Opus Completes Xcel Energy HQ Annex in Minneapolis

The company will now consolidate operations and employees that were previously spread throughout the city.

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Xcel Energy's new office at 401 Nicollet, Minneapolis

Xcel Energy’s new office at 401 Nicollet, Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minn.The Opus Group has completed a nine-story, 222,000-square-foot office building on the north end of downtown Minneapolis’ Nicollet Mall for Xcel Energy, the developer announced last week. The new building at 401 Nicollet connects by skyway with Xcel’s building across the street at 414 Nicollet, creating a two-building campus for the company, which will consolidate operations and employees that were previously spread throughout Minneapolis.

The 401 building will house 700 employees, and the 414 building houses 1,000, an Opus spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive. A dollar figure for the new building was not disclosed.

“With our new headquarters, Xcel Energy is doubling down on its commitment to Minneapolis … by creating a unified campus and bringing our downtown workforce closer together,” Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke said in a prepared statement.

The project was first announced back in June 2012, but demolition of the site was not complete till summer 2014, Dave Menke, president of Opus Development Co. LLC, told CPE. The project started going vertical that fall, and topping-out took place in June 2015.

The LEED Silver building was designed to reflect the architecture in the surrounding area, such as the look of Xcel Energy’s existing main headquarters across the street and the transparent glass façade of the nearby Minneapolis Central Library. 401 Nicollet features a glass curtain wall and cast stone with architectural detail including banding elements, metal accents and strong mullions.

Opus Development was the developer, Opus Design Build LLC was the design-builder, and Opus AE Group LLC was the architect and structural engineer of record.

In November 2014, Opus completed The Nic on Fifth, a 26-story luxury apartment building that was the company’s first project along that stretch of the Nicollet Mall and is next door to the Xcel Energy headquarters.

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