The Midtown Exchange building, towering above the other businesses along Lake Street in south Minneapolis, has long been a Minneapolis landmark. It was built in 1928 as a Sears retails and mail-order catalog facility and is the second-largest building in the state…second only to the Mall of America.
Growing up on a North Dakota farm, shopping trips to ‘The Cities’ were always highlighted by stops at Dayton’s downtown department store but stops at the gargantuan Sears facility were rare…there was no need, we could order everything we wanted from the catalog!
Sears vacated the building in 1994 and it remained empty until its transformation in 2005-2006 to the current Midtown Exchange, which includes lofts, condos and apartments; Allina medical headquarters; a Sheraton hotel; a Hennepin County service center; and Midtown Global Market, the city’s largest public market.
We stopped on a recent Friday evening to browse the shops and have dinner. Ablaze with color, the more than 50 independent businesses provide an international market place filled with food and gift items.
It’s a great place to find specialty groceries at great prices…as well as more common items. My husband was thrilled to find a jumbo size container of the pink lemonade mix that has been missing from our local grocery store!
We had an outstanding meal at Jade Asian Bar and Restaurant…worth a trip back, maybe with some friends next time.
Click here to see properties currently for sale in the Midtown Exchange at 2929 Chicago and the surrounding area of Minneapolis, MN. Powderhorn Park of a previous post is only a few blocks away. (Please be patient while the link searches for the most current listings…pass your cursor over the dots on the map for property information.)
