Daytons Project plan presentation
Telos Group President Brian Whiting shows plans for the department store redevelopment. Photos by Caitlin Abrams
Seven months after Macy’s final clearance sale in downtown Minneapolis, the fifth floor of the empty department store building that for more than a century was home to Dayton’s has been stripped down to the studs. Wires dangle from the ceiling. Concrete takes the place of stained carpet. Yellow caution tape runs along what once were white tiled aisles.
On Monday, new owner 601w Companies and their development partners offered the media a hard hat tour as they announced lofty $250 million redevelopment plans for the 1.2-million-square-foot landmark including a food hall, retail, and offices with state-of-the-art amenities such as a rooftop park.
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Daytons Project construction area
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Daytons Project interior
Honestly, it’s weird to stand in the dimly lit emptiness that spans the length of a city block, trying to identify where the furniture department used to be. But the truth is, the neglected building looks better already. Gone are the panels that for decades blocked 360-degree views of the city. Most people didn’t even know about the floor-to-ceiling round windows, says Brian Whiting, president of the Telos Group, one of the development partners. Stripping out decades of retail mistakes is the first step in what Whiting described as turning the building out to the street and making it a vital hub for the city once again.
“We want to make the building extroverted. Let the light in, bring the action out,” Whiting says. “Dayton’s was more than a department store. For over five generations, Dayton’s was the heart of culture, shopping, and entertainment. We fully understand its historical and cultural significance to the city of Minneapolis…we believe the Dayton’s building will once again take its place as the cultural and entertainment heart of downtown for generations to come.”
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Rendering of the Dayton's Project.
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The plans announced Monday for what’s being called the Dayton’s Project include 200,000 square feet of dining and retail and 750,000 square feet of office space. No tenants have been signed, but United Properties, which is handling the retail leasing, says announcements could be made within weeks. The lower level of the store will be home to “Festival Hall.” Developers are focused on local dining concepts. The 30 percent that will likely be national will be “interesting,” Whiting says.
For the non-food retail, Whiting envisions anywhere from 12 to 24 “high end” stores. Here again, he's hoping for a mix of national and local, but acknowledged that the rent has to get paid, which could be challenging for independent boutiques.
“We’re not trying to do something for everyone,” Whiting says. “We want a more targeted, cool urban experience.”
Architects are still looking at ways of connecting the first and second floors with sweeping staircases. Says Whiting, “We know the traffic is at the skyway level. We know people will go downstairs for the food hall. It’s critical to activate the first level.”
Some of the most tantalizing plans—a rooftop park, a fitness center looking out over downtown, a library—will not be open to the public. Those amenities are being used to attract large companies that would be interested in large chunks—50,000 square feet—of open concept office space. Whiting is counting on the perks of the unique space to lure Fortune 500 companies back downtown. “Maybe they just move their marketing department, or e-commerce—segments that attract young talent. Once they see all the benefits to urban hiring, everyone will want to be downtown.”
Developers are committed to maintaining significant features of the building: the exterior, the retro fourth floor women’s bathroom, the J.B. Hudson space on the first floor. But while the Dayton’s building looms large in our collective city memories, the number of historical features to the mammoth building is actually quite small, Whiting says. Most of it—especially between floors 3 and 12—is just run down office space. Salvaging the top floor Oak Grill is still being discussed. Whiting says he’d love to save the eighth floor auditorium—more for its uniqueness than any architectural importance, but the logistics of opening that to the public would be challenging.
“We’re just getting started,” Whiting says.
Portions of the building could reopen as soon as the middle of 2018. The goal is to have most of the public space complete by 2019. But the first floor could be temporarily activated much sooner than that: talks are under way to use a portion of the building for Super Bowl related happenings.
