The Saint Paul Condo Blog

James J. Hill, one of Minnesota's richest people, built himself an amazing office in Lowertown!  It's wonderful to see that Great Northern Lofts was rehabilitated into some of the most amazing lofts in the Twin Cities.  It wasn't an easy project, starting in 2000 it took nearly four years just to move the first owners in.  The developers ran into major problems with the building which required them to correct the sinking foundation of the building.  They also had to build a brand new parking ramp across the street, since underground parking was out of the question because of the water table.

With the conversion from an abandoned office building to impressive lofts, much has been retained to keep some of the more historical features of the building.  The grand entrance of Kellogg looks fabulous, then you walk into the lobby with it's original iron banister in full view.  The barrel-vault ceilings are a "must-see" and so is the private courtyard in the middle of the building.

The lofts at this building can be difficult to sell at times because of the over bearing association rules about resales.  For instance, they do not allow open houses.  Which is an absolute shame since the Farmers Market is less than a block away.  The home owners association must want a little more privacy to their building, but I think this goes a little too far.  If the association wanted to reduce traffic in the building, they could have stipulated hours/days when open houses were acceptable.

If any of you reading this live at Great Northern Lofts, consider changing the rules a little bit.  It will help the resale value in your building.