Rand Paul

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Jamie Rand, a Florida-based investor increasingly active in downtown St. Paul’s troubled real estate market, has officially closed on the purchase of the iconic First National Bank office building, which occupies a full city block along Minnesota Street.

The purchase price was $3.8 million — a far cry from its last sale price of more than $37 million in 2025, a testament to its declining fortunes under former property owner Madison Equities.

“The purchase price will seem low, but the purchase price is not the biggest expense,” said Rand, in a phone interview Friday. “There’s probably $7 million or $8 million in deferred maintenance.”

Together with his recent purchase of the Great Northern Building, an office building at 180 Fifth St. E., “I now own the two biggest buildings in all of downtown,” Rand said.

“If there’s one point I’d like to get across, I’m humbled and I’m honored,” he added. “I look at this almost like passing the Olympic torch. I’m one link in the chain of the original J.J. Hill builders with the Great Northern. It’s not just a building. The First National, everybody knows that building. I feel a huge weight to make this a success.”

The 32-story art deco skyscraper contains multiple towers constructed in three different eras, the oldest part of which dates to 1916, and its recognized far and wide in paintings and photos of downtown St. Paul for its illuminated “1st” sign, which Rand plans to soon relight.

The darkened light is one example of deferred maintenance that piled under former property owner Madison Equities, whose principal, Jim Crockarell, died in January 2024. Chillers, elevators, escalators and other mechanicals all need overhauling, Rand said.

Rand on Friday said he hopes to keep the building, which is about 34% occupied, a commercial office structure, and he’s hired Transwestern to help market it. If that’s not successful, he’ll make a decision by the end of the year whether to pursue a partial conversion of several floors to residential units, a pricey investment that he said would likely have to rely upon some level of public financing.

Backing for a partial residential conversion would likely involve asking for state and federal historic tax credits, as well as tax increment financing from the city of St. Paul, among other housing funds.

He said he hopes to soon assemble an advisory board composed of seven or eight St. Paul business leaders who can help guide those and other decisions. Rand said he plans to set aside $1 million to help small businesses secure space downtown and connect them with mentors, an extension of his work as an angel investor.

Rand said he attended the annual meeting of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance at the Palace Theatre in person on May 6, and was heartened to meet many downtown faces he’s only spoken to on the phone, including Downtown Alliance president Joe Spencer, Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega and representatives of St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her’s office.

He also said he was heartened to hear that the Downtown Alliance had tallied more than $1 billion in fresh investment in downtown St. Paul real estate, from the planned renovation of the Grand Casino Arena complex to individual building purchases.

Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold and an ownership group recently acquired the downtown St. Paul Hotel, and the Downtown Development Corp., which is affiliated with the Downtown Alliance, has purchased several foreclosed or under-resourced properties downtown.

“I’m proud to be a part of that, and why I named (the ownership trust) the Downtown Revival Trust,” said Rand, who plans to fly into St. Paul on Monday and spend the week downtown. “I closed on the most iconic building in downtown St. Paul.”