Hines plans a 29-story tower to fill a gap in the Minneapolis skyline

One of the nation’s biggest real estate developers unveiled plans for a 29-story office tower in one of the last undeveloped spots in downtown Minneapolis.

With the project, the firm Hines will test the economic health of Minneapolis at a moment when office vacancies are near historic highs as workers trickle back to their cubicles and companies re-evaluate their space needs.

On Tuesday, the Houston-based company submitted an environmental assessment worksheet for a tower with 719,000 square feet of office space, 21,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space and a three-level underground parking ramp.

Sargent Johnson, managing director for Hines, said construction won’t start until the building is about a quarter pre-leased. He expects it to be ready for occupancy in early 2026.

Johnson said the tower, which is being called 900 Marquette, will cater to a post-pandemic workforce that’s hungry for the kind of collaboration that people who have been working remotely have missed and with work stations and gathering spaces that will have a much stronger connection to the outdoors.

“We believe that people will come to the office, but they may use it differently,” he said. “The question is, ‘How do you get them to stay there longer everyday and want to be there?'”

The building was designed…