Midwest Plaza

Midwest Plaza
The Midwest Plaza in Central Minneapolis, with the glass IDS Center in the background
General information
Type	Office, retail
Location	801 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Coordinates	44°58′32″N 93°16′23″W / 44.97556°N 93.27306°W / 44.97556; -93.27306Coordinates: 44°58′32″N 93°16′23″W / 44.97556°N 93.27306°W / 44.97556; -93.27306
Construction started	1968
Completed	1969
Opening	1969
Height
Antenna spire	320 ft (98 m)
Roof	276 ft (84 m)
Technical details
Floor count	20
Floor area	416,000 square feet (38,648 m2)
References
[1]

Midwest Plaza is a 320-foot (98 m) tall skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was completed in 1969, and has 20 floors. It is the 30th-tallest building in the city and is located on Nicollet Mall. At the time of its completion, the building stood as the fifth-tallest structure in Minneapolis, and the city's second-tallest post-World War II high-rise, behind One Financial Plaza. A skyway connects the building to The Metro Apartments, the Medical Arts Building, and the IDS Center.^[2]

Midwest Federal Savings & Loan was the building's primary tenant for several decades until its failure during the S&L crisis, and so the building is sometimes called Midwest Federal.^[3] The building was bought by United Properties, a commercial real estate company, in December 1994. The structure has a floor area of 416,000 square feet (38,600 m²) and a 870-space parking ramp.^[4][5] Major tenants of the building include American Greetings, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, Dial Corporation, the ELCA Board of Pensions, Pfizer and Revlon.^[6][7] In February 2008, the building was put up for sale by United Properties. It has an assessed value of $46.5 million.^[8]

Midwest Plaza served as the home of the fictional WJM-TV station of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977.^[2][9] The famous opening title sequence was filmed nearby on Nicollet Mall.^[10]

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Minneapolis

References

1. ^ "Midwest Plaza". SkyscraperPage.com. http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=19906. Retrieved 2008-04-01. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Midwest Plaza". Emporis.com. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=midwestplaza-minneapolis-mn-usa. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
3. ^ Short, Allen (January 12, 1989), "Pohlad buys Midwest Federal - Sale would end Greenwood era at Midwest", Star Tribune
4. ^ Kennedy, Tony (December 30, 1994), "United Properties buys building in Minneapolis for about $20 million", Star Tribune
5. ^ Feyder, Susan (March 9, 2008), "Thomson's expansion on hold: The business and legal data publisher is holding off on any firm plans for a major expansion of its Eagan corporate campus.", Star Tribune
6. ^ Sitaramiah, Gita (November 5, 2006), "Target Plans 'A Third Downtown' - Brooklyn Park Campus To Feature Offices, Shops, Hotels And Housing ", Saint Paul Pioneer Press
7. ^ Feyder, Susan (November 26, 2006), "Target's ripple effect - Target's enormous influence is boosting the real estate market near its downtown Minneapolis headquarters as companies that do business with the retailer lease office space to be close to the action.", Star Tribune
8. ^ Black, Sam (February 22, 2008), "United Properties to sell Midwest Plaza, ramp", Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal
9. ^ Lileks, James "Midwest Federal: The Mary Tyler Moore Building", Retrieved on 2008-04-01
10. ^ Soucheray, Joe (January 13, 1989), "It's Joy To Have A Local Tycoon Pick Up Pieces", Saint Paul Pioneer Press : "If I wore a hat I would take it off to Pohlad, or toss it into the air down on the Nicollet Mall near the Midwest Plaza Building, the way Mary Tyler Moore used to do to open a television show that celebrated how quaint Minnesota was."