Erin Fitzgerald, a senior director on the Capital Markets team for JLL, also chairs the Minneapolis Renaissance Coalition, a private-public partnership focused on revitalizing downtown Minneapolis. Fitzgerald has been instrumental in developing a plan to address the challenges faced by office buildings due to remote work and economic shifts. She believes that the demand for flexible, hybrid workplaces will be a boon for downtown Minneapolis’s commercial real estate market. The coalition focuses on converting underutilized office spaces and improving areas like the Warehouse District to attract more entertainment businesses. Notably, Minneapolis had the highest percent change in visits to its downtown between March 2023 and March 2024, at 45.3%, surpassing cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C. This remarkable increase reflects the success of efforts to rejuvenate the downtown area.
