M.A. Mortenson Co. on Thursday announced it's starting construction on a second building in the Destination Medical Center (DMC) Discovery Square in Rochester.
When it's completed in mid-2022, Discovery Square 2 will be a five-story, 125,000-square-foot facility adjacent to One Discovery Square, which opened in 2019. The project is being built at 300 Second Ave. SW, adjacent to Mayo Clinic's Guggenheim, Hilton and Stabile Buildings.
Discovery Square 2 will include open workspaces and lab infrastructure so research tenants have everything they need to pioneer in the life science industry. Common areas will also be centralized in the building and share a link to One Discovery Square, a four-story, 89,000-square-foot office building.
Colliers International will be the building's leasing agent.
The project will be the first building in Rochester, and only the 11th in Minnesota, designed for Wired Certification — a real estate rating ensuring the building is optimized for future technology needs.
"DMC's Discovery Square strategy as a catalyst for economic development and recruitment of new businesses and talent to Rochester is unfolding in real time," said Lisa Clarke, executive director, DMC Economic Development Agency. "The addition of Discovery Square 2 reinforces Rochester's position as a global leader in health and a destination city for innovators and entrepreneurs."
Golden Valley-based Mortenson has been instrumental in the multibillion-dollar DMC project. In 2016, the company was picked to spearhead a six-block, 2 million-square-foot complex for research, education and commercial offices.
The overall DMC sub-district is 16-blocks and is part of a 20-year plan to transform Rochester into a global destination for health by attracting developers, investors, startups and entrepreneurs.
