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Business and community leaders today broke ground on a historic, well-known piece of property in downtown St. Cloud. Highbanks Plaza, an $8 million development anchored by Bremer Bank, will be located at the southeast corner of Second Street South and Fifth Avenue South. The site was previously occupied by St. Cloud City Hall, which was demolished as part of the redevelopment. When complete, the two-story, 20,000-square-foot building will employ around 80 Bremer employees. Today’s groundbreaking was hosted by Bremer Bank in collaboration with Frauenshuh, Inc., Inventure Properties, RJM Construction and the City of St. Cloud.

“For nearly 100 years, Bremer Bank has been proud to be a premier banking partner for the St. Cloud community,” said Bremer President and CEO Jeanne Crain. “Our commitment to this city and our customers is steadfast. We are focused on providing value-added financial services to our central Minnesota customers in a more modern and personalized environment that puts customers first and competitively positions us for decades to come.”

Conceptualized to include modern features throughout its interior, the design of the new building will complement the architectural style and historic context of the surrounding neighborhood. Bremer’s new branch will inspire a collaborative and welcoming atmosphere through fresh design features, which includes replacing traditional bank teller lines with accessible “partner tables” in the lobby for improved service and stronger banker-customer partnerships. There will also be open workstations in the building’s welcome plaza.

“Downtown St. Cloud is a critical part of central Minnesota, and we are committed to its vibrancy,” said Mayor of St. Cloud, Dave Kleis. “As we continue modernizing our downtown, we are thrilled that the site where our public servants conducted business every day for decades has a wonderful new occupant in Bremer Bank – a reputable, longtime St. Cloud business.”

The building is scheduled to be completed by summer 2023. Minnesota-based Frauenshuh, Inc. and Inventure Properties are the development and project management consultants for the project. RJM Construction is the general contractor. Click here to download a rendering of the project.