.svg)
The Cloverfields Building, located at 21 North 3rd Street in the Warehouse District, is a historic rehabilitation of an iconic Warehouse District building. After spending nearly twenty years vacant, the property has been revitalized to feature four stories of beautiful restoration and conversion from a once warehouse use to retail and office space. Each floor provides 14-19' clear ceilings, oversized windows, and abundant natural light.
Role
Development Consulting, Project Management, Tenant Representation, and Leasing Strategy
Opportunity & Challenges
The Cloverfields Building had sat vacant for nearly two decades, requiring a full historic rehabilitation while maintaining key architectural features and aligning with modern office and retail requirements. The challenge was twofold: successfully reposition the building within a competitive Warehouse District market and coordinate a complex redevelopment involving historic preservation constraints, construction phasing challenges, and evolving design and leasing considerations. At the same time, Cloverfields Capital needed a custom-designed office solution within the same building that met their space, growth, and amenity needs.
Upon construction, Covid posed various issues by creating schedule delays due to material and labor availability. The project schedule had to absorb workforce shortages from the spread of the virus. However, the development team, contractors, and laborers fostered a trusted partnership that allowed them to navigate the various unknowns of the pandemic by reorganizing construction schedules, and creatively overlapping the tenant buildouts with shell construction completion. Without the partnership of the general contractor, The Bainey Group, who was retained for the large tenant buildout, the schedule delays would have been more significant.
Approach
Element worked alongside ownership, design, and construction teams to guide the redevelopment strategy, including historic tax credit financing, building restoration, and multi-tenant leasing positioning. The team helped preserve defining architectural elements while modernizing infrastructure and optimizing floorplates for flexible tenant use. For Cloverfields Capital, Element conducted a targeted evaluation of market alternatives and ultimately supported their relocation into two full floors within the building. The team coordinated lease negotiation and managed the design and construction process to deliver a customized, future-ready office environment aligned with their long-term growth strategy.
The creative repositioning project utilized the financing tool of 40% historic tax credits through the State Historic Preservation Office (of Minnesota) and National Parks Services. This financing method was necessary to achieve the extent of restoration required while preserving multiple unique contributing features of the property that make it a contributing structure to the historic warehouse district. Innovative strategies were used to maintain the historical integrity of original terrazzo floors, elevator shafts and light wells, while creating modernized mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for a historic building. Though the intent was to appeal to full-floor tenants, the design team at Adsit Architecture and Planning strategized multi-tenant scenarios and options to facilitate future leasing scenarios and building expansion onto the parking lot.
Results
→ Repositioned a historic Warehouse District building vacant for nearly 20 years into a multi-tenant office and retail asset
→ Utilized historic tax credit financing to support full-scale restoration and preservation of original architectural elements
→ Delivered modernized infrastructure including elevators, skylights, light wells, and updated building systems
→ Achieved strong leasing momentum with multi-floor tenancy and ongoing occupancy growth
→ Supported relocation and buildout of Cloverfields Capital’s two-story office headquarters within the building
→ Coordinated complex development, leasing, and construction processes across ownership, design, and contractor teams
→ Achieved ~85% occupancy with full second, third, and fourth floors leased
→ Secured ground-floor retail tenancy with Madge Home + Market occupying first floor
