Jon Lanners is a real estate investor. Onward is a 15-year-old collection of industry pros taking an “alternative” approach to CRE, targeting market inefficiencies. It has been all-in on downtown Minneapolis when few others would bite. It bought the Wells Fargo tower at fire-sale prices and the Ameriprise tower for even less, as well as 300 First Ave. N. in the Warehouse District. It may soon own the West Hotel project in the North Loop (pending at press time). Lanners says the current take that capital sat on the sidelines until city election results were clear may be optimistic. “We’re going to need to see policy changes, more focus on public safety, a more business-friendly City Council” for investors to dip their toe in again, he says. He thinks office demand is bottoming out, but debt distress is still in the middle innings. He’s concerned that Minneapolis looks like a laggard compared to troubled downtowns like Seattle and Chicago. In the coming year, Onward will add a café to the Wells Fargo lobby and continue to look for investment opportunities, even in the local quicksand.