Minneapolis condo in historic Midtown Exchange building listed for $205,000

Four years ago, when Gregory Gestner moved back to his home state from New York City, he checked out a condominium in the Midtown Exchange Building in Minneapolis.

“As soon as I walked in, I saw down the hallway this wall of windows,” he said. “It’s kind of my dream loft that I could never afford in New York.”

During his 17 years in New York working in public relations, Gestner lived in tiny studio apartments with little natural light. Here, south-facing windows let the rays pour in and offer an expansive 11th-floor view of Minneapolis.

Since then, Gestner, 43, has found a partner. Together, they own a dog and need more space than the condo’s 980 square feet. Gestner has listed the one-bedroom, one-bathroom property at $205,000.

Gestner estimated a similar place in New York would cost at least $800,000. Part of the reason for the affordable Minnesota price tag also has to do with location.

The Phillips neighborhood has weathered challenges for many years: boarded-up businesses, crime, homeless encampments. When Ryan Companies began renovating the condo’s 1.1-million-square-foot Art Deco building in 2004, it had broken windows and a parking lot that drew drug dealers, per Ryan’s website.

The building, built in 1928 as a retail and distribution center for Sears that closed in 1994, is now an award-winning mixed-use space. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and it also withstood the riots and civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020, which happened about eight blocks south on Chicago Avenue.

That time “changed the face of what the community looked like,” said Alison Pence, the director of community engagement for Allina Health, which has headquartered in the Midtown Exchange Building since 2005.

”But it also started, what I would say, is the revitalization of the neighborhood,” Pence said.

Gestner felt similarly before moving in, even when friends warned the neighborhood was sketchy.

“But I think after living in New York City, it didn’t faze me as much,” Gestner said. “I also saw a lot of building projects in the area and felt like the neighborhood was in an upswing.”

Other aspects of the condocharmed him.

“I love the concrete floors, the exposed brick, the industrial features,” he said.

Updates include new appliances and kitchen cabinets as well as features like central air and indoor heated parking. The building also offers a rooftop deck with a grill, great for watching July 4th fireworks and seeing both ends of “very dramatic rainbows,” Gestner said.

Private security, as well as Allina’s, patrols around the clock, said Johnny Balmer, who has lived in a Midtown Exchange apartment for three years. Accessing the residential space requires passing through several secured entrances, he said.

Pence and Balmer said they take safety precautions and avoid walking around the area late at night, but they’d do that in other parts of the city, too. Balmer and his wife, who lived in Chicago for 20 years, walk their dog around the building several times a day.

One of the amenities doesn’t even require leaving the building. The condo is an elevator ride up from the Midtown Global Market, a big retail space that houses internationally inspired small restaurants, gift shops and specialty grocers.

The neighborhood has always been home to immigrant residents and business owners, said Pence, a member of the Lake Street Council. A century ago, they were European. Now, they’re mostly Latino and Somali.

Gestner said he visits the market frequently to grab groceries or visit the restaurants, such as Manny’s Tortas, which serves Mexican sandwiches from renowned Mexican chef Manuel González.

The market also hosts music and other special events. In May, it will hold the three-day Midtown Arts and Music Festival, Balmer said.

Right behind the building lies the Midtown Greenway, a 5.5-mile biking and walking trail developed around 2000 from a former railway corridor. It stretches from the Mississippi River to the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, passing between Bde Mka Ska and Lake of the Isles.

Because the Greenway is in a trench below street level, it can be a faster way to get around town than driving in a car, said Soren Jensen, executive director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition.

“It’s really fast and fun and healthy and efficient,” he said. “Anyone who commutes on their bike will tell you that it’s such a pleasant way to get around town.”

The coalition has helped line the Greenway with trees and shrubs, pollinator gardens, a community garden and murals on the walls under bridges.

“The goal is to make the Greenway welcoming and inviting to everybody, celebrating the diversity of Minneapolis,” Jensen said.

Gestner said he likes to look down at his Minneapolis landmark building from airplanes when he travels.

“It’s like this icon you can use,” he said, “to sort of orient where you are in the Cities.”

Devon Palmer of ReMax Results (651-707-4494, devon@mspmoves.com) has the $205,000 listing.