The Saint Paul Downtown Development Corporation (SPDDC) announced on Thursday it purchased the vacant Empire Building for $745,000.

The acquisition includes not only the 55,000-square-foot office building at 360 N. Robert Street, but the adjacent Endicott Arcade on Fifth Street, which also has been closed for years.

SPDDC is a subsidiary of the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance, which has partnered with private stakeholders to redevelop and revitalize certain buildings in the downtown area. Cushman & Wakefield will serve as property manager, per a news release. The properties were previously owned by Madison Equities.

The development corporation says it is focused on bringing vibrancy to the Fifth Street corridor, which connects major civic spaces in downtown, from Grand Casino Arena to CHS Field, with Rice Park and Mears Park in between. This focus is part of the alliance’s Downtown Investment Strategy, introduced last March. The strategy includes converting underused office space into housing and advancing downtown St. Paul’s “most strategic redevelopment opportunities.”

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The goal with the Empire and Endicott acquisition is to “activate a key block” along Fifth Street and “create more reasons for people to want to live, work, and visit downtown St. Paul,” SPDDC President Dave Higgins said in the release.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit also acquired the Alliance Bank Center and Capital City Plaza Parking Ramp, also former Madison Equities properties. The Alliance center had been vacant since March, when Madison Equities closed the site abruptly, telling tenants it could no longer afford building operations.

Last year, the alliance released a study detailing 10 office buildings that could readily be renovated for housing, including the Empire Building.

The Empire Building includes seven floors of commercial and office space, and the one-story Endicott Arcade covers about 12,000 square feet of ground-level commercial and retail space.

For the Endicott Arcade, SPDDS says it plans to bring new uses to the retail space in the “near term.” In the meantime, the nonprofit asks the public for ideas on how to transform the area.