Shorenstein Properties has been working hard to boost activity at the Minneapolis City Center, a key downtown retail center. And on April 7, the company, and the center, received some good news: Fashion retailer Len signed a seven-year renewal of its existing lease at Minneapolis City Center.
“This is an important commitment by an iconic and much-loved brand to maintain a flagship location downtown,” said Liz McLay, a retail consultant to Shorenstein Properties.
The Len stores throughout the Minneapolis area are now undergoing a rebranding effort. By 2015, all of the fashion stores will be operating under the Len brand.
The 7,196-square-foot store at Minneapolis City Center will be the fashion retailer’s only downtown location. Len does have a strong presence in the Twin Cities area, though, with other locations in the Galleria in Edina, Mall of America in Bloomington, Roseville, Minnetonka and a second location in Edina.
Len Druskin first started Len in 1976, opening his first store in Edina. Len Druskin, Inc. plans to to renovate the City Center store — which sells men’s and women’s clothing and accessories — beginning this summer. The store will reopen in the fall under its new Len brand.
The lease extension is the kind of good news that Shorenstein Properties hoped for when the company acquired the Minneapolis City Center last year. Shorenstein envisions big things for the retail center, especially considering its prime location in downtown Minneapolis.
The city center is actually the two-story retail portion of a 1.6-million-square-foot mixed-use property owned by Shorenstein at 33 S. Sixth St. in downtown Minneapolis. The LEED Silver property also includes a 50-story office tower, three-story parking garage and long-term ground lease for the adjacent 583-room Marriott City Center hotel.
