We're reading the headlines so you don't have to.

From the FTC banning noncompete agreements to Blaine's $750M downtown development project near the National Sports Center and Nestle Purina's expansion in Wisconsin to Minnesota receiving federal grants to support more residential solar power, here's what was buzzing in the building world the week of April 22 - 26, 2024:
 

APRIL 22

Effort to revive Minneapolis 2040 plan moves forward in Minnesota House
A version of the bill that would exempt cities' comprehensive plans from certain lawsuits under the Minnesota Environmental Review Act has made its way into the state and local government supplemental budget bill. This policy would exempt comprehensive plans from being sued under MERA for creating dense housing and would be retroactive to March 2018. The policy was amended into the supplemental budget bill on April 18th with a unanimous voice vote by the State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee. The retroactive nature of the policy would create protection for the city of Minneapolis' 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a plan that removed single-family-only zoning and has been cited by researchers as being a reason for Minneapolis keeping its rent increases lower than the rest of the nation. However, a lawsuit against the plan, under MERA, brought its implementation to a halt. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Minnesota among states receiving federal grants to support residential solar power
Federal grants of $7-billion are being awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency, which unveiled the 60 recipients on April 22nd. The projects are expected to eventually reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30-million metric tons of carbon dioxide and save households $350-million annually, according to senior administration officials. The Minnesota Department of Commerce is set to receive $63.45-million to support residential solar installations for low- and middle-income communities across the state, including Tribal communities. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Ryan envisions industrial, housing for Thomson Reuters site in Eagan
Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. is unveiling preliminary plans to potentially bring hundreds of new housing units and more than a million square feet of industrial uses to a big chunk of the former Thomas Reuters office campus in Eagan. An Eagan city staff report reveals that the developer's proposed land uses for the 179-acre redevelopment site includes 1.2-million to 1.5-million-square-feet of industrial uses in three to seven buildings on the eastern part of the site. No specific users have been identified. Also proposed are 70 to 140 single0family homes on the southwest, and 80 to 180 townhome units on the northwest. The site if off Dodd Road / Highway 149 near the Interstate 494 and Interstate 35E interchange. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Ryan plans housing, industrial space at Thomson Reuters campus in Eagan
Ryan Cos. US Inc. is proposing up to 320 residential units and light-industrial uses in its plan to redevelop a significant portion of the former Thomson Reuters campus in Eagan. The Minneapolis-based developer, which announced earlier this year its intent to purchase 179-acres of Thomson Reuters' 263-acre campus, is expected to present its newly unveiled plans to the city's Advisory Planning Commission. (Minneapolis-St Paul Business Journal)
 

APRIL 23

FTC announces rule banning non-competes
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a final rule banning non-competes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs. The final rule is expected to result in higher earnings for workers, with estimated earnings increasing for the average worker by an additional $524 per year, and it is expected to lower health care costs by up to $194-billion over the next decade. (Contractor Mag)
 

Palermo's Pizza plans 200,000-square-foot production facility in West Milwaukee
The pizza production facility at 3900 West Lincoln Avenue will provide 50 new skilled labor positions, officials said. The site was home to the former Froedtert Malt / Malteurop plant. The facility will be developed and constructed by Milwaukee-based The Dickman Company, Brookfield-based Briohn Builders and Fond du Lac-based Excel Engineering, officials said. Plans must be approved by West Milwaukee's Plan Commission, Community Development Authority and the Village Board. Palermo expects to break ground in August and have the building completed in June 2025. (Finance & Commerce)
 

PPL seeks rezoning for $5M mixed-use project in St Paul
St. Paul's affordable housing stock is poised to grow as a local development team pushes ahead with plans for a 60-plus unit apartment building with commercial space on a long-vacant site at the northeast corner of East Seventh Street and Minnehaha Avenue. Project for Pride in Living of Minneapolis is going before the City Council with a request to rezone the property at 892 East Seventh Street from "general business" to "traditional neighborhood," a key box to check in the entitlement process. The new building would be 55-feet high and the existing zoning limits structures to 30-feet, said Chris Hong, a St. Paul city planner. (Finance & Commerce)
 

APRIL 24

Biden administration finalizes rule to grant overtime pay for millions more salaried workers
The move marks the largest expansion in federal overtime eligibility seen in decades. Starting July 1, employers will be required to pay overtime to salaried workers who make less than $43,888 per year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles, the Labor Department said. That cap will then rise to $58,656 by the start of 2025. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Blaine looking to seize opportunities for ambitious redevelopment
A development team led by Elevage and Bader is expected to break ground in July on the first phase of a 40-acre mixed-use development planned for parcels east of Blaine's National Sports Center complex and west of the intersection of 105th Avenue and Radisson Road, Blaine community development director Erik Thorvig said in an interview. The three-phase project, which will feature a pedestrian-friendly core with restaurants, hotels, and entertainment uses, could be complete by 2030. (Finance & Commerce)
 

DOL will raise overtime salary threshold to $44K in July, $59K next year
The U.S. Department of Labor said it will publish a final rule raising the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum annual salary threshold for overtime pay eligibility in a two-step process. Starting July 1, the threshold will increase from $35,568 to $43,888 per year. It will then increase to $58,656 on January 1, 2025. The changes will expand overtime pay eligibility to millions of U.S. workers, the agency said. DOL's 2025 threshold represents a jump of about 65% from the Trump administration's 2019 rule and is slightly higher than the $55,068 mark that DOL proposed in 2023. (Construction Dive)
 

March's Architecture Billings Index reports significant drop from previous month
In a large drop from February, the AIA's Architecture Billings Index for March has reported a decline in billings for the 14th consecutive month. The score for March was a low 43.6, down from 49.5 --- a 5.6 difference. Any score below 50 marks a decline in billings from the previous month. In February, the AIA was optimistic, saying the slightly improved index suggested "the recent slowdown may be receding." March's number spoke otherwise, however. White inflation and supply chain issues have eased since 2023 and 2022, the AIA noted in the March index they may still be affecting economic conditions in the architecture industry. (The Architect's Newspaper)
 

APRIL 25

Blaine starting $750M downtown development near National Sports Center
The City of Blaine published a master plan outlining the new, $750-million redevelopment project located west of the intersection of 105th Avenue and Radisson Road. After two years of planning, the city expected the redevelopment to start mid-20204. Blaine-based Elevage Development Group and St. Louis-based Bader Development are leading the project. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Developer plans commercial, multi-family and single-family at Shakopee gravel pit site
The development, which is at the southwest corner of Mystic Lake Drive and 17th Avenue East, will be split into two phases of development over six years, consisting of potentially 534 apartment units, 98 townhomes, 223 single-family homes, as well as 174,300-square-feet of mixed-use commercial sites. Twenty-four acres will be reserved for open space. Also housed on the property will be a 97,000-sqyuare-foot water treatment plant that will be owned and operated by the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Element Indoor Golf, Mulligans plan new Minneapolis / St Paul locations
In Burnsville, the Planning Commission recommended the full City Council approve a 13,000-square-foot Element Indoor Golf facility in a vacant space within Burnside Plaza at 14314 Burnhaven Drive. If approved, the facility would include 12 golf simulator bays, a full bar and kitchen and other activities like pull tabs. Currently, Element as one location in Vadnais Heights that opened in 2019. Bradley Wohlers with Element cited the growing interest in golf simulators as the main reason for expansion. According to a 2023 survey from the National Golf Foundation, an estimated 6.2 million American used a golfing simulator in 2023, compared to just under 4-million in 2019. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Falling CRE values may bring challenges for redevelopment efforts
According to the Minneapolis Foundation's Downtown Next report, the 29 most valuable parcels lost 14.7% of their tax-assessed value between 2019 and 2023. Those properties alone provide 4% of Hennepin County property tax receipts./ Downtown Minneapolis' remaining commercial parcels deliver another 7% to county coffers. The four-year decline in tax-assessed values likely understates the problem. Last summer, Minneapolis' LaSalle Plaza (800 Lasalle Avenue) fetched less then $50-million at auction, a sharp discount to its $87.3-million tax assessment. In February, the Kickernick building (416 First Avenue North) sold for $3.8-million, undershooting a recent $7-million tax assessment. In downtown St. Paul, the Cosmopolitan Apartments (250 6th Street East) sold for $33.9-million earlier this year, according to a certificate of real estate value --- well under its $45-million tax valuation. (Finance & Commerce)
 

How U.S. changes to 'noncompete' agreements and overtime pay could affect workers
In one move, the Federal Trade Commission voted to ban noncompete agreements, which bar millions of workers from leaving their employers to join a competitor or start a rival business for a specific period of time. The FTC's move, which is already being challenged in court, would mean that such employees could apply for jobs they weren't previously eligible to seek. In a second move, the Biden administration finalized a rule that will make millions more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay. The rule significantly raises the salary level that workers could earn and still qualify for overtime. (Finance & Commerce)
 

North Minneapolis food hall Swank Eatery could revamp troubled 4th Street Saloon site
The vision is still early in the process --- Teto Wilson is hoping to close on the roughly 13,000-square-foot building within the month. The timeline is still unclear, but he hopes to open the doors next summer or in early 2026. Wilson is buying the troubled 4th Street Saloon on West Broadway Avenue with plans to renovate it into a food hall called Swank Eatery, which he hopes will bring new offerings to a food desert, create jobs and bring wealth-building opportunities to the neighborhood. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Project for Pride in Living plans affordable housing in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff
PPL petitioned the city to rezone a commercially zoned vacant property at 892 East 7th Street from B3 general business to T3 traditional neighborhood. The St. Paul City Council voted to approve the rezoning request. PPL is partnering with Minneapolis-based developer Soul Community Development on the project. According to city documents, the developers are planning a mixed-use apartment build that would include at least 60 units of affordable housing and 40,000-square-feet of ground floor commercial space. The commercial space would provide community services such as childcare, a clinic and a food hall incubator. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

Ryan pitches Woodbury warehouse, design suggests Amazon as user
The Minneapolis-based real estate developer has submitted plans for what it's calling "Project Wrangler," a proposed 225,550-square-foot delivery station / warehouse on an over 46-acre site near the intersection of Settlers Ridge Parkway and Hudson Road in Woodbury. The site, which runs along Interstate-94, is located near an existing sorting center for Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. and is adjacent to the 3M Co. spinoff Kindeva Drug Delivery facility. Both Amazon and Kindeva's facilities were developed by Ryan. (Minneapolis - St Paul Business Journal)
 

APRIL 26

Multi-family market showing signs of recovering
Since the first quartter of 2023, transactions on multi-family assets have increased 37.5%, according to a 2024 report by Michel Commercial Real Estate. Michel Vice President Heidi Addo said because interest rates were rising throughout 2023, there was uncertainty, but now, despite no decline in interest rates, investors are more confident because rates have held steady. (Finance & Commerce)
 

Nestle Purina plans $195M expansion in Wisconsin
The pet food maker Nestle Purina PetCare Company will invest $195-million to expand its factory in Jefferson, Wisc. by 35,000-square-feet to increase its wet door production by 50%. The expansion is expected to bring 100 jobs. The project is supported by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, which authorized up to $1.7-million performance-based tax credits over the next five years, governor's officials said. But the actual amount of tax credits Purina will receive depends on how many jobs are created and the amount of capital investment during that period. (Finance & Commerce)