The Buzz @ 6th and Nicollet March 2016 Volume 2 Issue 3 Nicollet Mall and 6th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota Skyway Open 2016 a Hit! This year’s Skyway Open presented by the Minneapolis Downtown Council was a huge success, bringing families and friends to downtown Minneapolis. The event sold out on Sunday afternoon and totaled approximately 1,000 people participating in the event. The Skyway Open raises money for the Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan's Committee to End Street Homelessness. RBC Plaza was proud to host a hole sponsored by KBS, Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, Shea architects and Unispace. RBC Plaza’s golf hole depicting the construction Mark your calendars for next year’s Skyway Open - February on Nicollet Mall 24 - 26, 2017! RBC Plaza’s Annual E-Waste Recycling Event Set MONDAY APRIL 18 | 7AM TO 3PM | RBC PLAZA LOADING DOCK Materials Accepted Computers & Laptops, Servers, Office Phones, Cell Phones, Tablets, Keyboards & Mice, Network Equipment, Wire & Cable, Monitors, Printers, Large Copiers, Fax Machines, A/V Equipment, and Miscellaneous Electronics Hard Drives, Backup Tapes, CDs & DVDs - All electronic media will be SHRED! Not Accepted : Appliances, Liquids, Pastes, Glues, Hazardous Substances Leased and Managed by: Owned by: The Buzz @ 6th and Nicollet Spring Forward! Time steals one hour of sleep, but gives us one more hour of daylight nicely placed at the end of the business day. For some, the loss of sleep feels just like jet lag and it can take all week to adjust. If a Spring break is a part of your future, you are likely heading to a warmer climate, can let your emails rest a bit, take in some surf and sun and relax. Don’t forget the sun screen! Many will join with their families for the celebrations of Easter and Passover, and in tasks like planning gardens, tuning up bicycles and lawn mowers, and thinking about Summer camp sign up for the kids. The activities that snow and cold prevented us from doing are nearly a distant memory. Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” plays in my mind…. Thoughts of Spring bring thoughts of the Nicollet Mall Farmer’s Market, which moved to Hennepin Avenue during the 2015 season due to the Nicollet Mall construction project. The Farmer’s Market will get legs again and move to the Hennepin County Government Center this year. The farmers market will open at the building’s grassy South Plaza down 6th Street Theresa Elveru, CPM, RPA on May 5 and run every Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. through November 10. Another sign of Spring is the onset of baseball fever - take me out to the ball game! The Twins home opener at Target Field is April 4 at 2:05 pm against the Baltimore Orioles. Keep in mind that the RBC Plaza parking garage is open until 11pm on the nights of evening Twins games. Go Twins! For many, the warmer weather also means dusting off their bikes and starting to ride to work again. You might find it interesting to know that according to an article by Forbes, May 14, 2015, Minneapolis ranked first as the most bike-friendly city in the US. Yes, the US! On a scale of 0 to 100, Minneapolis scored 81.3, which was six points over the second place city of San Francisco. There are 118 miles of bikeways and 92 miles of trails in Minneapolis! Portland came in third place followed by Denver and Boston. If you bike to work, keep in mind there is a bicycle storage room available for tenants at RBC Plaza. Just inquire with the tenant contact person in your office about how to obtain access. Also keep your eyes open for a bicycle event at RBC Plaza coming in May, National Bike Month. However you enjoy it, happy Spring! Earth Hour 2016 At 8:30 pm on Saturday March 19th 2016, the world will turn off its lights for one hour to show support for taking action on climate change. RBC Plaza is proud to participate once again. As you are likely aware, Earth Hour is a global initiative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that has grown to engage 162 countries and territories worldwide. RBC Plaza will be supporting this initiative by turning off all non-essential building lighting during that hour. This includes the exterior RBC Plaza signage. Lighting that affects the safety of the building and Tenants will continue to operate. We encourage your participation by turning off all non-essential lighting in your space during that hour. If you want to learn more about Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org. 2 The Buzz @ 6th and Nicollet March Madness Sweeps RBC Plaza Thank you to everyone who attended the March 17 March Madness Kick-off! It was a great time for co-workers to socialize and meet other people who work at RBC—and catch some of the NCAA first round games. Amuseé was on hand to provide opportunities for beer and wine tastings. Congratulations to all the winners of the drawing for gifts cards for RBC Plaza restaurants: Maria Cayetano Arlette Gaona-Roman Kathy Nault Eleanor Currie-Harris Robert Harvieux Lisa Rash Andrew DuBord Ann Hoen Linda Riley Celeste Erickson Roland Kouame Lisa Warning Coming Up Around Downtown Twin Cities Heart Walk set for May 14 Each year, thousands take part in the Twin Cities Heart Walk as a way to raise awareness and money toward defeating heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, May 14. The walk will begin at Target Field. To learn more about this event, to donate or to join a team, visit www.twincitiesheartwalk.org. Explore Downtown Living returns May 21 Last year, the 2025 Plan Development Committee launched Explore Downtown Living as an event that offers a free, organized way to visit two dozen different residential communities in the downtown area in an effort to showcase all that downtown has to offer for potential residents. In four days alone, 8,500 apartment tours were given during Explore Downtown Living 2015. Now, the event is back and will take place May 21 from 10 am to 5 pm. Visit www.exploredtliving.com to sign up for your free field guide and learn about the different residencies that are taking part. This year will include new properties totaling 30 downtown residential communities! Local businesses also partner with this event and offer discounts and freebies for those who sign up and have a Field Guide. There are #1MillionReasons to live downtown. Find yours at Explore Downtown Living! 3 The Buzz @ 6th and Nicollet Friendly Face: Meet Yoseph If you park in the RBC Plaza garage, you’ve likely met Yoseph Tarekegn, the Lead Valet, and been greeted by his warm smile and friendly personality. Yoseph as worked for SP+, the company that manages the garage for 6 and a half years and has been at RBC Plaza for the last three of those years. Yoseph and his family live by one guiding principle - to help others. This is obvious in his interactions with both customers and management. He knows most regular parkers by name and makes every effort to make their day a little easier for them. When he isn’t working, Yoseph loves to spend time with his children. New CSA Program Available at RBC Plaza RBC Plaza is pleased to be a drop-off location for farm shares from The Good Acre this year. Each week during the growing season, boxes of local, sustainably-grown fresh vegetables, herbs and other goodies will be dropped off at your location. Each box will include delicious items grown on nearby farms and offer a variety of healthy, familiar items. Members can choose to receive a delivery each week or every other, with optional vacation breaks. The Good Acre boxes will be delivered for 19 weeks, from June to October. What’s in a box? Over the course of the growing season, you can expect to see over 70 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs. In addition to Example of a weekly Full Share delivery tasty produce, each box will consist of a newsletter with simple recipes, news from the farmers, and description of box con- tents. Become a Member of The Good Sample Box Contents: Acre June: rhubarb, garlic scapes, salad mix, radishes, kale, Full Share: $600. leaf lettuce, kohlrabi Nineteen weekly deliveries starting August: heirloom tomatoes, Sungold cherry tomatoes, in June with a flexible payment watermelon, red cabbage, sweet corn, bell peppers, hot option of 1/2 down and the peppers, red potatoes, Italian parsley remainder to be invoiced in July. October: pie pumpkins, potatoes, beauty heart radish, Half Share: $325. winter squash, green cabbage, carrots, red onions, Nineteen weekly deliveries (half beets, carrots. box) starting in June. Full payment Want to find out more? of $325 is due at time of order. You can find more information at www.thegoodacre.org. Sign up at www.thegoodacre.org. 4 The Buzz @ 6th and Nicollet Lunch & Learn Insider Tips to Navigate the College Process & Save Money Tuesday, April 12 Noon to 1pm Conference Room B, Lower Level Light lunch provided. RSVP required: http://bit.ly/RBCplaza. Parents of high school students will not want to miss hearing a local expert provide strategies to help families navigate the complicated college process and save tens of thousands of dollars. College is now the second largest purchase most families make in their lives, yet most know more about buying a television. Planning ahead and developing a strategy for the college process is crucial to finding the right fit and avoiding unmanageable debt.