Demolition of St. Cloud City Hall will make way for Highbanks Plaza
This week Bremer Bank, in collaboration with Frauenshuh, Inc, Inventure Properties, and RJM Construction, officially broke ground on its new, full-service branch location in downtown St. Cloud. Part of the $8 million Highbanks Plaza development at the southeast corner of Second Street South and Fifth Avenue South, the fully updated, two-story branch will span nearly 20,000 square feet. The branch is located at the site of the former St. Cloud City Hall building, which is being demolished as part of the redevelopment. While conceptualized to include modern, collaborative features throughout its interior, the design of the new building will complement the architectural style and historic context of the surrounding neighborhood.
“For nearly 100 years, Bremer Bank has been proud to be a valuable banking resource for the St. Cloud community,” said Bremer President and CEO Jeanne Crain. “While downtown may look different than when Bremer first opened its doors here, our commitment to this city and our customers is steadfast. We remain committed to providing quality and value-added financial services to our central Minnesota customers in a more modern and personalized environment that puts customers first and competitively positions us for decades to come.”
With the City of St. Cloud’s move to Tech High School earlier this year, the redevelopment vision for the former City Hall property was brought to life. Bremer Bank, with its presence in the St. Cloud market for nearly a century, will use this new space as a regional operations presence to serve its growing central Minnesota customer base. Bremer’s former St. Cloud branch at 1100 W. St. Germain Street will be acquired by Granite Partners and become an innovation hub and headquarters for Granite’s growth in the region.
“Crafting the vision for this block and synthesizing Bremer’s local and regional presence with investment into the 5th Avenue corridor and downtown core has been made possible with an outstanding collaborative effort among the City, Bremer and the entire project team,” stated David Anderson, Frauenshuh, Inc.’s Senior Vice President.
“The new Highbanks Plaza site is an ideal spot for Bremer Bank’s newest location serving the St. Cloud community. The design and construction speak to the existing and future needs of Bremer’s customers in the area, and the RJM team is proud to have been chosen again as Bremer’s construction partner for this new venture. We are also looking forward to working with local subcontractors in the community,” said RJM’s Senior Vice President Ted Beckman.
Bremer’s new branch will inspire a collaborative and welcoming atmosphere through fresh design features, including replacing traditional bank teller lines with accessible “partner tables” in the lobby for improved service and stronger banker-customer partnerships and open workstations in the building’s welcome plaza. The branch will employ upwards of 80 employees.
The building is scheduled to be completed by summer 2023. Minnesota-based Frauenshuh, Inc. and Inventure Properties are the development and project management consultants for the project, and RJM Construction is the general contractor. A ceremonial groundbreaking event is being planned for August.