Gaviidae Common (1989)

Gaviidae Common

651 Nicollet Mall, Suite 300

Built: 1989: Cesar Pelli Associates

Renovated 2018; HGA

Gaviidae Common began life in 1989 as a chic shopping mall. Before that, the site was occupied by the Northwest Bank Building, which burned in 1982. The word Gaviidae is Latin and designates the family of birds that includes the Common Loon, Minnesota’s State Bird.

The one-hundred-five-thousand square feet of the building’s top three floors, including the rooftop, were renovated and reopened in 2018 as the Douglas Dayton YMCA at Gaviidae Common. The building’s full-height atrium was originally designed to thrill shoppers. Now its soaring openness serves to visually bind the Y community together. The new downtown Y is a state-of-the-art fitness center and the third floor Equity Innovation Center promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion. Retail and office space on the first two levels are available for lease.

The building retains much of its original material. The 6th Street and Nicollet facades feature pinkish-tan limestone piers alternating on the second and third levels with large bay windows. On the inside, the five-story atrium is topped by a 230-foot-long barrel-vaulted ceiling and skylight. Steel columns that support the building and form an arcade around the oval atrium are painted dark blue to harmonize with the ceiling colors.