Oct. 25--One of the oldest buildings in Minneapolis' historic Warehouse District recently got a new owner and is about to get a new major tenant.

Public Radio International (PRI), whose programs are broadcast on more than 800 public radio stations, is moving its Twin Cities offices to the Textile Building at 119 4th St. N. PRI will lease about 23,000 square feet in the 111,843-square-foot building, about 5,000 square feet more than its current home in another Warehouse District building, Butler Square.

PRI, which has 50 employees here, will move to its new offices in January, according to Vice President Julia Yager. The building will be renamed Public Radio International, with redesigned space that will include studios and displays that will showcase PRI hosts and content on the ground floor and offices on the fifth floor.

The 109-year-old building was bought about a month ago by a business entity connected to Swervo Development Corp., whose other Warehouse District holdings include Butler Square North and the Colwell, Wyman and Wyman-Partridge buildings. Swervo's president, Ned Abdul, declined to disclose the price of the purchase from Wayzata Properties. The property is valued for tax purposes at $4.9 million, according to Hennepin County property records.

Abdul said the PRI move will bring the building's occupancy to more than 90 percent. That compares with about 85 percent for Warehouse District buildings as of the end of the third quarter, according to figures from the Twin Cities office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker.

Abdul said he's investing about $3 million in improvements to the building, including a new roof, windows, elevators and cosmetic upgrades. He said the makeover should be completed by the middle of next year.

Mortenson goes solar

Mortenson Construction, which already is a well-established wind energy contractor, has been hired to build its first solar generation project. Mortenson began work on the project last month and expects it to complete it by the end of the year.

The Golden Valley-based construction company will build the project in New Jersey for enXco, a U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles Co., a French renewable energy company. It will be used by enXco customer Carrier Clinic, a not-for-profit behavioral health care system. The solar installation is expected to supply half the clinic's electrical services during periods of peak demand.

Since entering the renewable energy market in 1995, Mortenson has become a leading builder of wind power projects in North America. Mortenson has been involved in the construction of more than 80 wind power projects, totaling more than 8,000 megawatts across the United States and Canada.

Susan Feyder --612-673-1723

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