Kraus-Anderson is celebrating the completion of its new downtown Minneapolis headquarters at 8th St. and 5th Ave. Employees from throughout the metro area are now moving into the 100,000-square-foot campus, which consolidates the company’s Twin Cities operations under one roof in a five-story facility.
Kraus-Anderson, which has been headquartered in downtown Minneapolis since 1897, was led by Lloyd Engelsma, who grew the company into one of the largest construction firms in the country.
“This is a very exciting time for our company,” said Bruce Engelsma, chairman of Kraus-Anderson Companies and Lloyd’s son, in a statement. “My father would have been so proud to see this amazing building, a beautiful home for our employees and a testament to our growth and success in this competitive marketplace.”
The new headquarters will accommodate about 300 employees, doubling the current downtown staff with room for future expansion on the site. Consolidation will combine employees from the Kraus-Anderson Construction office in Circle Pines, and Kraus-Anderson Realty Company and Kraus-Anderson Development offices in Bloomington. The new building also will house Kraus-Anderson Mortgage, as well as the parent corporation, Kraus-Anderson Companies. Kraus-Anderson Insurance, one of the region’s largest privately held independent insurance and risk management firms, will continue to operate from its offices in Burnsville.
One of KA’s building configuration objectives was to enlarge and enhance its mission-critical educational training center – Kraus-Anderson University (KAU) – which provides employees with lifelong learning, grounded through the targeted development of technical and leadership skills. The new training space allows KAU to regularly offer courses to hundreds of architects, engineers, business partners and others working in various areas of construction management.
The main entrance to the new corporate headquarters is positioned on the northwest corner of the block so it becomes a natural extension of the downtown business core. The first-floor entrance lobby includes a spacious waiting area, conference rooms and employee cafeteria with large windows for maximum daylight. The first floor also includes the employee fitness center with locker room facilities.
The majority of employee office space is located on floors two through five. An open office concept is used throughout the building, featuring electrically operated workstations, allowing employees to easily change from sitting to standing positions. Cost-effective sustainability, systems and technology measures also include a high-efficiency temperature and equipment monitoring network, energy-efficient LED lighting, daylight harvesting controls, and large, tint color windows that limit solar heat gain while allowing daylight to penetrate toward the center of the building.
Designed by Pope Architects, amenities also include a rooftop deck, formal and informal meeting areas, and an appealing, well-landscaped exterior. The building also includes two levels of underground parking to serve KA’s office employees.