RBC enters lease agreement for United Properties' tower

A new skyscraper in downtown Minneapolis is one step closer to getting off the drawing board.

RBC Wealth Management said Monday that it formally agreed to anchor United Properties' proposed 33-story tower at the Nicollet Hotel Block on the north end of Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

The lease was needed for city officials to agree to a redevelopment contract with United Properties to buy and develop the city-owned property on the corner of 3rd Street and Hennepin Avenue.

The Nicollet Hotel Block, which gained its name from the 18-story hotel that used to stand there, is currently a parking lot.

"We have entered into a lease agreement to move to a new building on 3rd Street S. between Hennepin Avenue and the Nicollet Mall," RBC spokeswoman Nicole Garrison said in a statement.

The final agreement is still subject to approval by the board of Canada-based RBC. United Properties declined to comment Monday.

According to city staff reports made available earlier this month, RBC signed a letter of intent to anchor the $330 million project that included plans for a 275-room Four Seasons Hotel and 18 condominiums. On Friday, the Minneapolis City Council approved modified redevelopment terms with United Properties. Staffers were authorized to execute a redevelopment contract with United Properties once the developer provided evidence that the lease with RBC had been executed.

United Properties was awarded exclusive negotiating rights for the project in 2015, and it later requested several extensions of those rights while it secured financing.

The company plans to connect the tower to the downtown skyway system.

RBC, which currently has offices in RBC Plaza on Nicollet and S. 6th Street, expects to occupy between 310,000 square feet and 370,000 square feet in the new building.

United Properties will pay the city $10.4 million for the block, with the sale anticipated to close in December.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495 Twitter: @nicolenorfleet