San Francisco firm plans to snap up Macy's building

A San Francisco-based real estate investment firm plans to buy the old Macy's building in downtown St. Paul.

City documents, first obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, identify City Center Realty Partners as the buyer of the Macy's building, although the deal doesn't appear to be finalized. The documents give no indication of what the company intends to do with the property.

Calls to the company seeking comment were not returned.

City Center Realty has an office in Minneapolis and owns a couple of downtown Minneapolis office buildings.

Macy's closed its downtown St. Paul store in March. The city encouraged Macy's to sell to a developer who would bring vibrancy to the block.

In the documents, city officials describe their worst-case scenario as a "Burlington Coat Factory type" of store or a parking ramp. Mayor Chris Coleman has said he'd love to see an upscale office building with restaurants on the first floor.