The first phase of the building, along Elliot Avenue and
Lake Street, was built in 1928. It was expanded in 1929, 1964, and 1979, resulting in 1.2 million square feet (110,000 m²) of space. A central tower along Elliot Avenue rises 16 floors to 211 feet (64 m). After Sears closed the site in 1994, it laid vacant as development proposals came and went. The city of Minneapolis acquired the site in 2001 and sold the 1979 expansion portion in 2002 to be used by the neighboring
Abbott Northwestern Hospital as a
parking ramp. Two years later,
Ryan Companies was given exclusive development rights to the site. The resulting plan divided the structure into a mixed-use site with about 300 residential units, plus office and retail space. In 2004,
Allina Health announced plans to move their corporate headquarters to the building, taking up most of the allotted office space. Much of the residential space is known as the
Chicago Lofts located on floors 9-16 and
Midtown Exchange Apartments located on floors 2-8. The building also includes the
Midtown Global Market, which is home to a variety of small independently owned restaurants, cafes, and specialty grocers, and hosts community programs including music, dance, and children's activities. A prototype
Sheraton Hotel was built in the former Sears parking lot. The building and hotel have direct access to the
Midtown Greenway. The area around the Midtown Exchange building was heavily affected by civil disorder during the
George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul that began in late May 2020, with several nearby buildings entirely destroyed by
arson. Residents of the Midtown Exchange fended off threats to the building from rioting and looting by patrolling the area with baseball bats. The Sheraton Hotel was used as a temporary sanctuary by activists for unhoused persons, but they were later evicted after several safety incidents, and the hotel remains shuttered as of July 2021. ==Other buildings==