New plans for the old Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota headquarters in Eagan are in early planning stages, according to the 55-acre site’s co-developers.
Real estate developers Opus of Minnetonka and Capital Partners of Edina are working together on the build-to-suit industrial development plans, known as “Blue Ridge Innovation.”
The former Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters site is located at 3535 Blue Cross Road in Eagan.
“With dramatic shifts occurring in the office markets, we are in the early stages of concept design with various redevelopment solutions,” Opus vice president and general manager of real estate development Nick Murnane said in an emailed statement. “We will be working closely with the city of Eagan and various stakeholders to bring this redevelopment to the Eagan community.”
Company officials declined additional comment regarding the project at this time.
The plans would involve some degree of redevelopment of the land, according to marketing materials released by CBRE.
Two examples of potential redevelopment options are listed and both would construct new buildings on the old HQ site as well as on the adjoining land directly southeast that previously housed a day care center for Blue Cross Blue Shield employees.
One concept calls for two buildings on the properties, 242,800 square feet and 218,700 square feet, with 10 acres left for build-to-suit options.
The second concept consists of a business park with six buildings: two at 119,000 square feet, two at 106,000 square feet and two at 94,000 square feet.
Re-use ‘unlikely’
In March 2023, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota announced plans to consolidate operations and move its headquarters into nearby buildings just northwest of the old site, across Minnesota 13. This current base of operations for the health insurance company is also known as the River Park properties.
The Blue Ridge Innovation plans are in very early stages.
Eagan community development director Jill Hutmacher said city staff and developers have had informal discussions about the process for land use, zoning considerations and current site conditions and about community input on previous proposals for the site.
No formal applications have been proposed as of yet.
Any redevelopment into a different land use would need a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning. Both of those processes would require public hearings.
“The city understands that re-use of the current building is unlikely under current market conditions,” Hutmacher said, speaking generally about the site.
Johnson Brothers interest
Blue Cross Blue Shield announced in early 2023 that it would vacate the 442,000-square-foot headquarters building, with company officials pointing to the rise of the hybrid-work model as the motivation. Next to the old HQ site is the adjoining land parcel that housed a 12,000-square-foot day care center.
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As these sites sat vacant, Johnson Brothers Liquor Co. began eyeing the 55-acre campus as a potential redevelopment opportunity to house a corporate headquarters and warehouse distribution center.
Those discussions moved forward, with the Eagan City Council eventually approving a contentious comprehensive plan land-use amendment.
But by March 2024, Johnson Brothers abandoned those plans, saying in a statement at the time that the site was “not the best fit to meet the anticipated future needs of our company.”
Meanwhile, Solventum, 3M’s health care spin-off, is relocating its Minnesota-based operations from Maplewood to another former Blue Cross and Blue Shield building at 1750 Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan.
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