New hybrid office center expected to open in downtown Rochester in September

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·3 min read

Jul. 26—ROCHESTER — The world's largest hybrid office/coworking firm, Switzerland-based IWG, expects to open the doors of new downtown Rochester spaces this fall.

Regus, an offshoot of IWG, has been busy this summer transforming an empty 6,000-square-foot spot in the

318 Commons building

in downtown Rochester into new co-working spaces, private offices and meeting rooms.

Partnering with the owners of the nine-story 318 Commons building, Regus is re-launching the space that previously housed a

Bremer Bank branch.

Bremer closed that branch in 2022. The project is on track to be completed this fall.

"The new Rochester center is scheduled to open in September of this year," stated IWG CEO Mark Dixon.

Regus, which already has 14 office center spaces in the Twin Cities,

announced the Rochester project in February.

Dixon recently explained why his firm targeted the Med City for a new location.

"Rochester is a thriving city in Minnesota with a growing community of local and national businesses. There's rapidly increasing demand for hybrid working solutions as companies of all sizes empower their teams to work in the heart of local communities and this opening is in direct response to this trend," he wrote. "70% of IWG's new centers announced in the last eight months are located in smaller towns and communities outside of metro areas."

Dixon added that office work has evolved dramatically in recent years and the needs of businesses of all kinds have changed.

"Hybrid working is better for people, cheaper and far more flexible for companies. The advent of hybrid has made it redundant for companies to tie themselves into inflexible and expensive long-term contracts on city-center properties, while also having a hugely positive impact on the environment," he wrote. "Flexible working is being rapidly adopted by companies worldwide. And it's no longer just about plans or intentions as we can see in our record numbers, it's already changed the actions business leaders are taking when it comes to managing their property footprint."

While no tenants have signed on the dotted line to reserve any of the coming Regus/IWG space, the company says there is a lot of interest from a variety of types of businesses to start leases in the fourth quarter.

"IWG's eight million customers cross industry and specialty lines. ... Interest we have seen in the Rochester center come from across sectors including, health care, computer technology and manufacturing," stated Dixon.

That spot operated as a bank branch for 10 years from 2012 to 2022. It started as an

Eastwood Bank branch

soon after the building opened and changed into Bremer in 2014. It is located next to the former Loop restaurant space now a University of Minnesota Rochester student lounge. The university leases seven floors of the complex for student housing as well as office and classroom space.

This project is the latest commercial project in the 318 Commons buildings, which was built by

G.H. Holdings

. G.H. is a partnership between Rochester developers Hal Henderson and Grant Michaletz. It cost an estimated $28 million to build the 318 Commons tower in 2010/2011.