Minneapolis office building is likely to become apartments

A local developer may turn a 117-year-old downtown Minneapolis office building into apartments.

Zoom in: Two weeks ago, developer Mohamed Elkhateeb bought a six-story office building at 312 S. Third St. for $2.7 million.

• He told Axios he is likely going to turn the six-story building into 57 to 67 apartments, and he figures he can do it at a cost that is 20% to 40% cheaper than constructing a new building.

Zoom out: Finding buildings in Minneapolis to convert to apartments is tricky. Many of them have large floors, leaving space in the middle that is too far from a window.

• Most of the pre-1950s office buildings with small floors have already been converted to hotels or apartments, including The Foshay Tower, Rand Tower, and the Soo Line Building.
• But not all of them.

Of note: There's a law firm leasing two floors in the building now, and Elkhateeb said it's possible the firm could stay while the rest of the building is converted.

Meanwhile: A few other conversions are in the works, including part of the downtown Minneapolis Northstar Center, the former Strutwear Knitting Building next to U.S. Bank Stadium and St. Paul's Cray Plaza.