Minnesota DNR Signs 125,000-Square-Foot Headquarters Lease at River Park Plaza in St. Paul

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has signed a 125,000-rentable-square-foot office headquarters lease at River Park Plaza, located at 10 River Park Plz in St. Paul, in one of the largest new office leasing transactions to close in the Twin Cities market in recent years, Suntide Commercial Realty announced Sept. 9.

The lease brings a major long-term public-sector tenant to the 345,201-square-foot, eight-story office tower, which was built in 1988 and sits within the St. Paul central business district overlooking the Mississippi River.

A Complex Transaction Involving Multiple Service Lines

Suntide Commercial Realty, which has provided leasing and property management services for River Park Plaza since 2023, drew on its full-service platform to complete the transaction. The firm's leasing, property management, construction, and space planning teams all participated in the process alongside building owner SARA.

"This was much more than a brokerage transaction," said Barb Schuba, CFO/COO, Principal at Suntide Commercial Realty. "There were a lot of moving pieces, and having leasing, property management, construction and space planning all working together in-house was critical to getting this across the finish line. SARA was also an exceptional partner throughout the process. They stayed committed to the property, continued to invest in the building and worked collaboratively with us and the State to get a very complicated transaction done."

Repositioning Efforts Set the Stage for the Minnesota DNR Deal

Suntide began working with River Park Plaza in 2023 with the goal of attracting new tenants to fill space that had been vacated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the following years, SARA made significant capital investments in the property based on recommendations from Suntide. Those improvements included an updated lobby and the creation of the Sky Lounge, a hospitality-style conference center with a rooftop deck facing the Mississippi River and the downtown St. Paul skyline.

Those upgrades positioned the building to compete for a headquarters requirement of the scale and complexity the Minnesota DNR presented — a type of large-block leasing assignment that has grown increasingly rare in the Twin Cities office market. Relatively few new office leases in the market have exceeded 100,000 square feet in recent years, with most significant activity concentrated in renewals and consolidations rather than new commitments.

Market Context: Large Leases Remain Uncommon in Twin Cities Office

The transaction arrives as the broader Minneapolis-St. Paul office market continues to navigate elevated vacancy, though recent data points to modest stabilization. Overall vacancy in the metro stood at 20.0% in the second quarter of 2026, a slight improvement from 20.1% in the first quarter, with 111,945 square feet of positive net absorption and average asking rents of $31.10 per square foot. Separate market figures place vacancy at 25.0%, availability at 29.0%, net absorption at 190,000 square feet, and average asking rents at $29.91 per square foot for the same period — a spread that reflects ongoing uncertainty in how the market is measured, but one that broadly confirms the Twin Cities office sector remains in elevated-vacancy territory even as leasing momentum has improved in select submarkets.

Against that backdrop, a 125,000-square-foot new headquarters commitment stands out. Landlords across the metro have been competing for tenants through concessions, build-out packages, and amenity investments, and the River Park Plaza transaction illustrates how repositioning a building with targeted capital improvements can attract major occupiers even in a structurally challenged downtown office environment.

Significance for the St. Paul CBD

The Minnesota DNR headquarters lease adds a significant anchor tenant to River Park Plaza and represents a meaningful commitment to the St. Paul CBD office market at a time when downtown office demand has been pressured by remote and hybrid work patterns, tenant downsizing, and a broader flight to quality. River Park Plaza currently has approximately 94,254 square feet of available space reported across six office suites, indicating the building retains additional leasing capacity following the DNR transaction.

Suntide Commercial Realty served as both leasing broker and property manager for the landlord. SARA is the building's owner.

Sources

Suntide Commercial Realty — Minnesota DNR Selects River Park Plaza for New 125,000 Rentable Square Foot Office Headquarters