Hot Property: In Minneapolis, a 118-year-old office building will become a suites hotel

Address: 317 2nd Av. S., Minneapolis

Type: Hospitality

Rooms: 203

Addition size: 41,300 square feet

Developer: Hawkeye Hotels

Architects: Cities Edge Architects, Ramaker & Associates

Details: A 118-year-old former office building in downtown Minneapolis is to be reborn as a Hilton Tru & Home2 Suites Hotel.

The eight-story stucco building at 317 2nd Av. S., formerly known as the Western Union Bank Building and the William E. Magee Building, had been used by Hennepin County for its public defender offices until vacating it six years ago. In 2015, it was purchased by Willmar-based TPI Hospitality, which at the time unveiled plans for its conversion into a 135-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites, including a 16,000-square-foot building addition.

TPI, however, never pulled the trigger on that project, and an entity related to Iowa-based Hawkeye Hotels purchased the property last month for $5.7 million, according to real estate records.

Hawkeye, in tandem with Eagan-based J.R. Hospitality, recently built a Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Bloomington; a Home2 Suites in Eagan; a Fairfield Inn in Shakopee; and a Marriott Springhill Suites in Arden Hills.

The newest plans for the downtown structure show an addition of 41,300 square feet, while the room count has jumped to 203. Most of the work will be on the existing building, including the removal of asbestos and lead paint.

Don Jacobson