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Novel Coworking’s push into secondary markets is moving briskly with the addition of a second location in Minneapolis and its first outpost in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Chicago-based company purchased TriTech Center at 331 Second Ave. S. on the north side of Minneapolis’ downtown – about one mile from its first Minneapolis location at the LaSalle Building, which opened last month.
The firm differs from larger rivals like WeWork in that it owns the buildings where it operates, in effect keeping prices relatively low. Novel now says it has 2 million square feet of workspace in 26 locations across the country.
Renovations will begin this fall at the 36-year-old, nine-floor TriTech Center in Minneapolis, with the intention of opening a new coworking space on the fifth floor in spring 2019, said a spokesperson for Novel. The 113,987-square-foot building is connected via skyway to an Autograph Marriott hotel and the Towle Building.
Novel did not disclose how much it paid for the TriTech building.
The seller, Singapore-based DCI Data Centers, declined to comment. DCI has owned the building since January 2013, when the company bought it for $7.25 million.
About half of TriTech Center is occupied with traditional tenants, the largest being Octeon and the State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense. The existing tenants will remain in the building.
In Madison, the five-story, 95,000-square-foot office building Novel purchased is located at 345 W. Washington Ave. Like TriTech, the building dates to the early 1980s and will get a significant overhaul.
The seller of the Madison building is The Alexander Company, a real estate developer that specializes in historic properties. Until now, 345 W. Washington served as Alexander Company’s headquarters, but the firm will soon move to the Novation Campus, another property it developed in Madison, according to Kendra Bishop, Alexander Company’s director of marketing.
Like the new Minneapolis location, work will begin on the Madison building this fall and wrap before spring 2019.
Pre-leasing has already begun for both sites. Coworking memberships start at $99 a month, with private offices starting at $399 a month and office suites available for $199 a month, per employee.
Apart from Minneapolis and Madison, Novel currently has a presence in Alexandria, Virginia; Boulder, Colorado; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago; Cincinnati; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Richmond, Virginia; San Diego; Savannah, Georgia; and Seattle.
