Wolfmotell checking in to vintage Pence Building

Minneapolis-based advertising agency Wolfmotell has inked a deal to lease 18,000 square feet at the vintage Pence Building, 800 Hennepin Ave. in downtown Minneapolis.

The move signals an expansion for the 10-year-old, 50-employee Minneapolis agency, which currently occupies 7,400 square feet above the Drink bar and restaurant at 431 First Ave. N., about three blocks away. The agency got its modest start in 1998 in the basement of a Chanhassen townhome.

"We’re looking to grow. We’ve been fortunate as an agency to continue to be busy," said Keith Wolf, one of the firm’s four partners. "It’s a great building. It’s sort of a landmark."

The agency’s unusual name, Wolfmotell, combines the last names of three of the firm’s founding partners: Wolf, John Moberg and Jason Tell. A fourth partner, CEO Geoff Bremner, joined the firm in 2001.

Wolfmotell is slated to be in its new space by April. The Minneapolis-based interior design firm 20 Below Studio is working on designing the space. The spaces on the seventh and eighth will be connected by an internal staircase and the firm plans to add a rooftop deck to the building.

The firm’s client roster includes St. Jude Medical, Best Buy, Hearth & Home Technologies and Cambria.

The Pence Building was the longtime home to the Carmichael Lynch ad agency, until that firm moved to the Wyman-Partridge Building in the Warehouse District. Minneapolis-based Turnstone Group bought the then-empty building for $8.15 million in February 2007.

"We really wanted a space that had more of a ‘warehouse’ feel. Turnstone and Wolfmotell and 20 Below were all on the same page. That’s been exciting for us," Wolf said. "We’re looking long-term over there. We’re excited to be skyway-connected."

The Pence Building is leased by Minneapolis-based Sherman Group, a firm known for its work in and around the Minneapolis Warehouse District.

Sherman Group principal Ken Sherman represented Wolfmotell while Mike Wendorf, vice president of Sherman Group, represented the landlord.

Wendorf said the building offers appealing architecture in a strong central location.

"I think people are getting excited about Hennepin Avenue again," Wendorf said. "The exterior work is going on right now. New windows make a huge difference."

Wendorf said Turnstone is investing approximately $4 million in an extensive, top-to-bottom renovation of the 96,000-square-foot building, which dates to 1909.

The Wolfmotell deal is the second notable lease at the property. Art Institutes International Minnesota leased 33,000 square feet of space and moved in last fall.

Wolf acknowledges that at first, he was given pause because the building had a long-term association with another ad agency.

But ultimately, he said, the new investment in the building is creating a new identity for the 100 year-old building.

"I really believe that the building is having a renaissance and we’re excited to be a part of it," Wolf said.