Loffler Companies

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

Loffler’s headquarters transforms a former big-box retail shell into a bright, flexible workplace that unites people, operations, wellness, and community.

Location

St. Louis Park, Minnesota

Client

Loffler Companies

Expertise

Professional Services Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Strategy Technology

Opportunity

As hybrid work changed expectations, Loffler saw an opportunity to bring teams together in a headquarters where employees would choose to work in on site.

Loffler’s Twin Cities workforce was spread across multiple buildings, while an expiring warehouse lease created urgency around operational consolidation. Rather than pursue a conventional office move, Loffler identified a vacant former Sam’s Club on a 13-acre site in St. Louis Park. The challenge was significant: meet zoning requirements without changing the building footprint, adapt a vast retail environment for office and warehouse use, and create a destination that could support hybrid work, employee connection, client engagement, and future growth.

Why This Matters

01
Reuse With Purpose
The project shows how adaptive reuse can preserve embodied value, reduce waste, and create workplaces with more character than conventional new construction.
02
Hybrid Work, Humanized
Amenities and varied settings give employees meaningful reasons to come together, helping the office compete with the ease and autonomy of remote work.
03
Future-Ready Investment
Flexible planning, an added mezzanine space, and room for growth position Loffler to adapt as business needs, employee expectations, and technology evolve.

It’s a unifying space for the upper Midwest team and is our commitment to a positive, employee and client focused culture…

Solution

The design converted scale into strength, using daylight, transparency, amenities, and an internal campus strategy to humanize the former retail shell.

The design team embraced the building’s existing volume and infrastructure rather than masking it. New south-facing glazing, enhanced skylights, and glazed interior walls bring daylight deep into the workplace. A new mezzanine adds functional square footage while creating visual connections between departments. Amenities, including a work café, bar, fitness center, yoga studio, golf simulator, stadium seating, showroom, and covered veranda break down the scale and create a more hospitality-driven workplace experience. Together, these moves transform a static retail box into a flexible headquarters with the feel of an internal campus.

From brief to build: the team turned constraints into catalysts, reusing the existing structure while rapidly delivering warehouse, workplace, and amenity spaces.

The project required close coordination across design, construction, ownership, and city stakeholders. Phase one prioritized the warehouse and production area so Loffler could avoid holdover rent and maintain business continuity. The broader renovation addressed poor site conditions, existing mechanical systems, daylight limitations, and the structural complexity of a 16,000-square-foot mezzanine supported by more than 25 footings and 75 micropiles. By sequencing work around operational needs, the team brought Loffler’s headquarters vision to life without losing sight of schedule, cost, or long-term adaptability.

Vision Before Construction

Renderings helped align stakeholders around workplace goals, sequencing priorities, and the future headquarters experience.

Impact

Loffler’s headquarters proves an obsolete retail asset can become a high-performing workplace, community hub, and long-term investment in culture.

Years after opening, the headquarters continues to strengthen culture, support business performance, and host employee, partner, client, and nonprofit gatherings.

What Changed Because of This

01
Workplace Experience
Employees gained a bright, flexible destination with varied work settings, shared amenities, and spaces that support focused work, collaboration, training, and celebration.
02
Operational Connection
By consolidating teams, warehouse functions, showroom, and document services under one roof, Loffler improved visibility, communication, and team camaraderie.
03
Community Activation
The headquarters became more than an office, with event spaces now supporting employees, partners, clients, and community gatherings each week.

Recognition

01

Retrofit

Featured Gensler’s transformation of an underperforming retail shell into Loffler’s amenity-rich headquarters, highlighting adaptive reuse, daylight-driven design, and workplace innovation.

02

CoStar

Highlighted how building transformations beyond office-to-residential conversions are creating new value through innovative repositioning strategies.

03

Finance & Commerce

Recognized Gensler’s adaptive reuse of a former big-box retail building into Loffler’s headquarters, highlighting innovation, workplace transformation, and project delivery excellence.

Team

Project Leadership

Bill Baxley

Bill is a Design Principal in Gensler’s Minneapolis office whose work sits at the intersection of architecture, civic leadership, and urban transformation. He partners with public agencies, institutions, and communities to create places that strengthen cities and generate lasting social and economic impact.

[FPO] John Huebsch

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[FPO] Jeff Walz

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FAQ

01

How can a former big-box retail store be converted into a workplace?

By reusing the existing structure, adding daylight, creating varied work settings, and strategically placing amenities to break down scale and support daily employee needs.

02

What makes Loffler’s headquarters an example of adaptive reuse?

The project transformed an existing former Sam’s Club into a new headquarters, preserving the building shell while adapting it for office, warehouse, showroom, and community uses.

03

How does the Loffler headquarters support hybrid work?

The workplace offers shared desks, collaboration spaces, conference rooms, cafés, wellness amenities, and event zones that give employees reasons to gather in person.

04

What sustainable strategies were used in the Loffler headquarters?

The project prioritized reuse of the existing building shell, steel, concrete, and skylights while adding daylight, efficient systems, and selected healthy and locally sourced materials.

05

Why are workplace amenities important in office design?

Amenities can help create a more engaging workplace experience, supporting wellness, social connection, informal collaboration, client hospitality, and employee retention.

06

What challenges come with converting retail space into office space?

Common challenges include bringing in daylight, managing large floor plates, meeting code and zoning requirements, adapting mechanical systems, and creating human-scaled environments.

Related Work

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Related Expertise

Professional Services Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Strategy Technology

Loffler’s headquarters transforms a former big-box retail shell into a bright, flexible workplace that unites people, operations, wellness, and community.

As hybrid work changed expectations, Loffler saw an opportunity to bring teams together in a headquarters where employees would choose to work in on site.

Why This Matters

The design converted scale into strength, using daylight, transparency, amenities, and an internal campus strategy to humanize the former retail shell.

From brief to build: the team turned constraints into catalysts, reusing the existing structure while rapidly delivering warehouse, workplace, and amenity spaces.

Loffler’s headquarters proves an obsolete retail asset can become a high-performing workplace, community hub, and long-term investment in culture.

What Changed Because of This