In a major commercial real estate transaction along the Mississippi River, a data center company acquires former Minnesota Star Tribune printing site in downtown Minneapolis, signaling a significant shift in the post-industrial landscape of the North Loop neighborhood. Arlington, Virginia-based firm Legacy Investing reached a definitive agreement to purchase the 13-acre industrial property located at 800 North First Street. The prime riverfront parcel, which operated for nearly four decades as the newspaper’s Heritage printing press, was shuttered late last year after the publication consolidated its physical printing operations to an out-of-state facility in Des Moines, Iowa.
The acquisition by Legacy Investing marks the firm’s second major digital infrastructure venture in the Twin Cities core, following its prior conversion of the former Sleep Number headquarters into a data center optimized for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Early plans submitted for the former printing facility project a 20-megawatt computing capacity. However, developer proposals indicate that the project will not function solely as a tech infrastructure hub; instead, plans outline a mixed-use concept that could incorporate residential housing units and ground-floor retail spaces.
Civic organizations and business leaders have expressed optimism regarding the potential economic benefits for the metropolitan center. Adam Duininck, president and chief executive officer of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, highlighted that redeveloping underutilized industrial footprints into high-value technological assets could significantly boost the city’s property tax base. With municipal budget deficits putting upward pressure on residential property taxes, commercial redevelopments of this scale are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in total property valuation, providing essential tax revenue for municipal services.
Despite local enthusiasm from economic development groups, data center expansion has drawn increased scrutiny across several Minnesota communities over environmental and infrastructure concerns. In response to public debates surrounding energy consumption, water usage, and localized noise levels, the Minneapolis City Council recently enacted a temporary five-month moratorium on certain smaller data center developments downtown. However, because municipal regulations exempt larger facilities exceeding 350,000 square feet, the 13-acre Heritage plant redevelopment is expected to move forward through standard zoning channels, subject to final city approval for a conditional use permit.
As a data center company acquires former Minnesota Star Tribune printing site in downtown Minneapolis, urban planners view the project as a defining milestone in the North Loop’s ongoing evolution from a manufacturing corridor into an innovative tech and residential enclave. Pending final regulatory approvals, the property sale is scheduled to close later this year, paving the way for construction that could redefine the riverfront skyline.
