The Blueprint
- Nicollet Avenue strip center anchored by Master Collision and Tower Games.
- Fully leased property offers 7% cap rate and redevelopment potential.
- Lake Street Napa Auto Parts site available as tenant vacates after 25 years.
- High ceilings, parking, and transit access make the site ideal for reuse.
Editor’s note: On the Market is a regular feature from Finance & Commerce that highlights interesting commercial real estate that has recently been put up for sale. Let us know about CRE that’s on the market at [email protected].
This week, On the Market takes out a magnifying glass to suss out automotive-themed opportunities along two commercial corridors in South Minneapolis.
Our first stop is the 3900 block of Nicollet and a fully-occupied strip center anchored by an auto body shop and primed for cash flow. Then we head north to East Lake Street, where a soon-to-be-empty auto parts store is ready for a new owner-occupant — or something more ambitious.
Nicollet Avenue strip center
Cash flow is king at this two-tenant retail building in the Kingfield neighborhood of Minneapolis. The main occupant is Master Collision, an automotive retail and repair shop. Its space wraps around a smaller retail suite occupied by Tower Games, which stocks tabletop games and collectibles. Both pads have a “history of high occupancy rates,” according to the listing — not surprising in this high-traffic, relatively upscale section of town.
Both tenants have at least five years left on their leases, supporting a cap rate in the vicinity of 7%. The building dates back to 1957 but was heavily renovated in 2012 and 2013 and boasts decidedly modern touches like a variable air volume HVAC system, high-speed fiber access and rooftop solar panels.
Occupying most of the northern third of a long north-south block, about half of which is parking, the 0.9-acre site itself has plenty of room. Local zoning supports a range of uses, including more intense vertical builds — an enticing prospect for a buy-and-hold investor content to get paid to wait for a redevelopment opportunity when the retail leases expire.
Address: 3900-3920 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis
Type: Retail
Square Footage: 19,861 square feet
Asking Price: $4.5 million
Seller: R 401K LLC (Prior Lake)
Listing Broker: Nathan Karrick & Kevin O’Neill, Colliers
Lake Street auto parts store
A few miles away on East Lake Street, another automotive retail mainstay is up for sale — though in this case, it may not stay automotive much longer.
The Napa Auto Parts store that has occupied the single-tenant structure at 3307 Lake St. E. for the better part of 25 years is vacating the premises at the end of the year, setting up what listing broker Aaron Goldstein says is “tons of potential for new opportunities.”
The high-visibility Lake Street frontage is a natural fit for another retail or specialty use, such as a child care center. Inside, ceilings ranging from 18 to 30 feet — unusually high for this type of building in a space-constrained urban environment — cover more than 7,500 square feet of aboveground square footage, according to the listing. The basement has another 4,000 square feet of storage or work space, also with unusually high ceilings (10 feet). A quasi-separate rear addition has an overhead door, more storage space and access to a secure fenced outdoor area. And a side lot with egress to Lake Street and 34th Avenue South has room for around 25 cars.
Though there’s plenty of reuse potential in the existing building, Goldstein’s listing also notes the “fantastic development opportunity” presented by a more than half-acre parcel along a high-frequency transit line.
Address: 3307 Lake St. E., Minneapolis
Type: Retail
Square Footage: 12,911 square feet
Asking Price: $1.2 million
Owner: 3307 East Lake Street LLC (St. Louis Park)
Listing Broker: Aaron Goldstein, Gold Group Realty
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