If design goals hold true to form, the city of Minneapolis’ future consolidated office building will create a friendly environment both inside and out for public users, city employees — and even migrating birds in the Mississippi River flyway.

The project’s international design team, including Henning Larsen of Denmark and Minneapolis-based MSR Design, presented that vision to reporters in advance of Thursday’s unveiling of architectural renderings for the 382,000-square-foot, 11-story tower.

Touted by the city as its “new face of public service,” the building will rise on the site of a 1,300-space parking garage at 501 Fourth Ave. S. Demolition of the parking garage will begin on June 18, according to the city. Finance & Commerce reported in December that the city bought the garage from Chicago-based Urban Growth for $18.37 million.

Scheduled for completion in fall 2020, the consolidated building is the centerpiece of an estimated $210 million project that also includes improvements to the adjacent City Hall, the iconic turn-of-the-century Romanesque building at 350 S. Fifth St. The site is just a few steps from the Government Plaza Station, which serves both the Blue Line and the Green Line light rail transit routes.

The Planning Commission’s Committee of the Whole was scheduled to preview architectural drawings for the building at its late afternoon meeting Thursday.

The structure will house public service functions and consolidate the work space for 1,300 city employees. Those workers are now scattered in City Hall and six other downtown buildings.

Big-picture design goals include creating an open, flexible work environment with ample daylight. The building will be oriented to ensure that interior spaces will be bathed in natural light, according to the design team.

“When we talk about architecture, it’s very important for us to talk about daylight,” said Michael Sorensen, principal of Copenhagen-based Henning Larsen. “I think this is part of our DNA coming from Scandinavia. It’s a scarcity for us.”

Clad with a generous amount of glazing and a metal panel system, the building will create a “transparent effect” and open up the surrounding environment, Sorensen said.

A “fritted” exterior glass design will prevent bird-glass collisions, an important environmental feature because the building is in a Mississippi River flyway area for migrating birds.

Asked if the fritted glass was identified early as a desired feature, given the brouhaha over bird safety at nearby U.S. Bank Stadium, the city’s CFO Mark Ruff said, “The short answer is, yes.”

Sorensen said the project will be a candidate for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification, the second-highest level of sustainable design recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Skyways will connect the building with the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility, the Hennepin County Government Center and the Hennepin County parking ramp. Trees, planters, benches and lighting will dress up the outdoor spaces.

The building will offer public service functions on the first and second floors, topped off by city offices on floors three through nine and staff gathering spaces on the 10th floor. A green roof will crown the building.

Space for bicycles and other storage will take up the single underground level. But it will not include vehicle parking for workers. Building users will rely on existing structured and street parking in the immediate area, according to the city.

Ruff said the new building will house the police department, health department, regulatory services, most of the community planning staff, utility services, information technology and other users.

“It’s a very diverse work space: dealing with police on one hand versus planners on the other hand,” Ruff said. “There’s a wide range of how people view their workplaces. But, honestly, our conditions are in such bad shape right now, people are so excited about it.”

The new building will consolidate space for employees who currently work at City Hall and a half-dozen other downtown buildings, including the city-owned City of Lakes building, 309 Second Ave. S., and the Public Service Center, 250 S. Fourth St.

Proceeds from the sale of the City of Lakes and Public Service Center buildings will help to offset project costs, Ruff said. In addition, debt from previous projects will be paid off in 2022, thus freeing up debt service for the upcoming project, he said.

At present, the city leases more than 73,000 square feet altogether at the Flour Exchange Building at 310 Fourth Ave. S., the Towle Building at 330 Second Ave. S., and the Crown Roller Mill building at 105 Fifth Ave. S.

Ruff said the city pays almost $4 million per year in lease and operating costs for the square footage it occupies outside of City Hall.

Mike Wilhelm, an office leasing expert and vice president with CBRE’s Minneapolis office, said the vacated office space won’t have a very noticeable effect on the overall downtown office market. The overall office vacancy rate in the Minneapolis central business district is 22 percent for the first quarter of 2018, according to CBRE.

But the loss of parking is another matter.

“I think the biggest impact is going to be parking. Tearing down the parking ramp and not replacing any of those parking stalls will make an already-tight parking environment even more so,” he said.

Still, the sale of existing city-owned buildings will create some good redevelopment opportunities, Wilhelm said.

Ruff said the city will likely sell the Public Service Center and City of Lakes Building at the end of 2020. Finance & Commerce previously reported that JLL’s Minneapolis office will market the existing sites to businesses and developers.

Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction is the city’s construction manager for the office building project, but the city will hold the contracts and bid out the work in chunks.

The city awarded a $1.12 million demolition contract in December to Carleton Cos. of Mankato. Earlier this month, the city put out a request for proposals for “design assist” and building envelope services. Bid packages for concrete and structural steel will hit the streets in the next few months.

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