As working from home becomes the new normal, Twin Cities developers are thinking outside the box to repurpose vacant office spaces.

Sherman Associates has construction underway in Minneapolis and St. Paul to revamp empty office buildings and make them apartments.

“Core business districts are not only for offices, they’re for residents as well,” said Trevor Martinez, Sherman Associates’ senior developer.

In downtown Minneapolis, Northstar Center East off Second Avenue South will soon become apartments with over 200 units and affordable housing.

Now, it’s in the makeover phase, which is a process that takes years of planning and millions of dollars.

“When you have to rebuild a building from the inside, it’s more expensive than having free reign to do whatever you want with building from the ground up,” Martinez said.

Martinez explained that project funding comes from the local, state and federal level.

He said the Minnesota Historic Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit that the 2023 state legislator reinstated had a hand in getting to this point.

Sherman Associates is also transforming the Landmark Towers in downtown St. Paul into living spaces.

“The largest challenges when it comes to office redevelopment is trying to find new use in an old design footprint,” Martinez said.

Property development leaders call this concept the start of a new wave by adapting to changing times with a creative twist.

“Projects like this that are reimaging downtown absolutely are the future,” Martinez said.

Sherman Associates said the downtown Minneapolis apartments will be move-in ready by this fall.

The Landmark Towers living spaces will be completed in 2025.