When U.S. Bancorp purchased MUFG Union Bank in late 2022 for $8 billion, the company’s CEO, Andre Cecere, made clear his intentions to keep the bank headquartered in Minnesota.
With nearly 400 MUFG Union Bank branches in California, Washington, and Oregon, the deal represented a significant investment in the western United States for U.S. Bancorp, and some worried it would mean moving corporate functions out of downtown Minneapolis.
“I’ve been coming downtown for 37 years, so this is my home,” Cecere said in a media interview at the time of the acquisition. “We have 13,000 employees in Minnesota. We have over 100 branches. It is our corporate headquarters. Most of our senior staff is here. And I, personally, and we at U.S. Bank are committed to Minneapolis and the Twin Cities.”
With U.S. Bancorp’s lease at 800 Nicollet Mall expiring in 2023, it wouldn’t take long to test the veracity of Cecere’s promise.
A team led by landlord Piedmont Office Realty Trust and Newmark had an added incentive to see Cecere’s word fulfilled and leaned into a 20-year relationship with the bank. Piedmont had also made several recent changes to the property looking to not only keep tenants but also lure workers back to the office that included a new seafood restaurant, coffee lounge, bike storage with showers and a golf simulator.
In the end, Cecere followed through and U.S. Bancorp renewed its lease for nearly 450,000 square feet of office space at its namesake tower in Minneapolis’ Nicollett Mall business district. The signing’s significance and its size led to its selection as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year for Minneapolis/St. Paul, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the Deal: U.S. Bancorp Center recently received the 2023 BOMA International TOBY award given to properties for excellence in building management and operations. It also maintains LEED Gold, Energy Star and BOMA 360 performance designations.
What the Judges Said: "As someone who works downtown, keeping every lease and every employee coming downtown is critical for the city," Susan Picotte, senior vice president at Centerspace. Andrew Babula, director of the real estate program and the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas, said the size of the lease transaction was impressive by itself, but having such a large office lease transaction with a major employer and high-credit tenant in downtown Minneapolis when office leasing is facing massive headwinds was a significant accomplishment that would have a material positive impact on the community.
They Made it Happen: Piedmont Office Realty Trust was represented by George Wells and Boyd Lewis. Brent Erickson and Callie Ronkowski of Newmark worked on behalf of Piedmont. Steve Stratton and Brian Ginkel of JLL represented U.S. Bancorp.