For the second time in less than two years, a flex building in Eagan has traded hands between two Minnesota-based groups.

The Bloomington-based Hunt Electric has purchased the Spectrum Commerce Center in Eagan from Water Street Partners for $44 million, one of the highest dollar deals to come out of the Twin Cities office market in 2024 thus far.

The building last swapped hands in late November 2022, when a seller from Crystal sold to the Excelsior-based Water Street for $35.5 million. The building is located at 1000 Blue Gentian Road and was built in 2001.

Water Street Managing Partner Jim Hegedus said in an interview Monday that the sale came at a “fortuitous” time for both groups, saying Hunt Electric initially approached them about leasing some of the vacant space before asking Water Street if they’d be willing to sell.

According to a Catylist listing of the property, it is 300,000 square feet. Hegedus said that there are four tenants on the property and that Hunt Electric is taking over the remaining vacant space, which will bring the property to 100% occupied.

Hegedus said a little under $2 million was spent on upgrades and another $4 million on tenant improvement projects while his firm owned the property.

Transwestern’s Senior Vice President Chris Weirens represented Hunt Electric in the deal and said the due diligence and transaction process went pretty quickly because Water Street didn’t want to have vacant space for too long. He said the facility will serve as a new headquarters for Hunt Electric because the company outgrew its Bloomington property.

“I guess how I looked at it or how I would value it — it was one transaction, but you have a building that was essentially half-full with good tenants in place and you have good income generating from that,” Weirens said in a Tuesday interview. “It was half investment sale and also half user/owner sale. Therefore, that brought us to our number.”

Weirens said there was also a need for more parking as Hunt Electric continued to expand its workforce. The Spectrum Commerce Center provides enough parking for the group and also features a unique rooftop parking deck.

Hunt Electric did not respond to a request for comment before time of publication.

The sale was facilitated by Weirens and CBRE’s Matt Oelschlager and Michael Harrer

According to the Dakota County 2024 tax records, the estimated market value of the building is $32.3 million. The site is a flex building, which is sometimes referred to as a high-finished industrial property.

Weirens said now that Hunt Electric is moving its headquarters to Eagan, the Bloomington site is now hitting the market. The property is located at 7900 Chicago Ave. and has 108,710 square feet of warehouse space along with 52,000 square feet of office space. Built in 1964, the site features just shy of 200 parking spaces.