The first of the Opus companies began in 1953 as a general contractor in Minnesota. The company has continued to grow, quietly changing the face of communities across the nation, and consistently expanding its reputation for providing unparalleled quality, innovation, and on-time, on-budget project completion.
1953-1960
Gerry Rauenhorst started his construction business in 1953 at age 25. For four years he operated from his family's 960-square-foot home in the Minneapolis suburb of Richfield.
Rauenhorst Construction's first project: Zion Lutheran Church in Olivia, Minnesota, Gerry Rauenhorst's hometown.
First headquarters building at 7848 Fremont Avenue South, Bloomington, Minnesota.
St. Ambrose Church in St. Paul, constructed in 1955 and one of many buildings Opus has built for religious institutions.
1961-1970
First turnkey project: an office and manufacturing facility for The Toro Company.
Members of an early Opus construction crew. Many employees have been with Opus for decades.
Aerial views of Normandale Center Industrial Park, in 1961 and in 1970. By 1970, 51 buildings housed more than 400 businesses, including Camelot, a landmark restaurant, and a Howard Johnson's motel.
A new headquarters in 1963 for Rauenhorst Construction at 444 Rauenhorst Circle, Bloomington.
1971-1979
Rauenhorst Corporation created Fabcon, Inc., in 1971 to manufacture hollow-core concrete panels for walls, floors, and ceilings.
A tradition is begun: Employees received years-of-service awards at the first company picnic in 1972.
Northwestern Financial Center made a dramatic change in the Twin Cities suburban landscape.
The First National Bank of Billings was Montana's tallest building when it went up in 1976.
Gerry Rauenhorst's first promotion: to CEO and Chairman of the Board in 1979.
1980-1984
Opus entered Phoenix with Southwest Financial Plaza, completed in 1981. Three years later, Opus completed its first office building in Tampa, Westshore Place.
Gerry Rauenhorst unveiled a plaque at the dedication of the Opus Center in suburban Minneapolis in 1982. The same year, Rauenhorst Corporation became Opus Corporation.
Opus 2 in Minnetonka, a Minneapolis suburb, is a mixed-use community of office, light industrial, and residential areas.
Gerry and Henrietta Rauenhorst lit candles in 1983 to celebrate 30 years in business.
Opus buildings at 100 and 150 south Fifth Street changed the downtown Minneapolis skyline in the 1980's.
1985-1990
A new 35-acre corporate campus for the international food company ConAgra revitalized downtown Omaha in the early 1990's.
First Bank Place in downtown Minneapolis was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and developed by Opus in partnership with IBM.
Opus was chosen by the state of Washington to build a new headquarters for its Department of Labor and Industries.
1991-1997
Opus won a competition to design and build Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota.
Gerry Rauenhorst received the National Developer of the year award for 1992 from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).
Opus began construction of the California Department of Justice building in Sacramento and celebrated 40 years in business in 1993.
A downtown Minneapolis campus for the University of St. Thomas was completed by Opus in 1993.
1998-2002
The Opus Group rang in 1999 with a new corporate home - Opus Corporate Center - in Minnetonka, Minnesota, home to nearly 250 employees.
Opus added new office locations in Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Kansas, St. Louis, Missouri, San Jose and Los Angeles, California.
Opus Northwest completed a $125 million, one million-square-foot, 30-story office building in downtown Minneapolis for American Express Financial Advisors.
Founder Gerald Rauenhorst was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame by Twin Cities Business Monthly.
Opus Northwest completed the 1.5-million-square-foot Best Buy world headquarters in Minneapolis.
2003-2005
2003 marked the 50th anniversary of Opus Corporation, a company started as Rauenhorst Construction Company in 1953 by Gerry Rauenhorst.
The $75 million Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, an upscale lifestyle center, and the first of its kind in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, was completed by Opus Northwest.
Opus Northwest completed the new 1.6-million-square-foot corporate headquarters for Best Buy Co. in Richfield, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb.
On April 1, 2004, Opus expanded internationally by opening an office in Toronto, Ontario.
In May 2004, the first annual Opus Prize of $1 million was presented to Helping Hands for the Poor, Inc., in honor of Monsignor Richard Albert, a New York-born clergyman who has spent nearly three decades helping the poor in Jamaica’s shantytowns.
Opus West advanced its strategic California expansion by opening an office in San Diego in September 2004.
Summer of 2005 saw the completion of the 98,000-square-foot headquarters for HOK Sport, a leading designer of sports venues around the world. This was the first new commercial building in decades in Kansas City’s historic River Market district, the birthplace of Kansas City.
Opus East broke ground on Allentown Crossings IV, a 290,000-square-foot build-to-suit project for DHL, the global express delivery and logistics company. The new facility will have a handling capacity of 40,000 letters per hour/50,000 parcels per hour.
Following in the footsteps of the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, Minnesota’s first lifestyle center, Opus opened two more lifestyle centers - Woodbury Lakes in Woodbury, Minnesota, and Bridgeport Village in Portland, Oregon. Both centers are home to some of the finest retail stores and restaurants in their areas.
2006-2007
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) and the U.S. Army selected Opus East to develop the Government and Technology Enterprise (G.A.T.E.) – a 200+ acre state-of-the-art R&D and technology business park for both the government sector and non-government users. APG is a leading research, development and testing center for the U.S. Army and boasts some of the most sophisticated testing laboratories in the world.
Opus North broke ground on Burr Ridge Village Center, a 550,000-square-foot lifestyle/mixed-use development in Burr Ridge, Ill., a suburb 15 miles west of Downtown Chicago. The project features 103,000 square feet of retail space, 196 luxury residential lofts and condos, and 37,000 square feet of office condo space.
Medtronic, Inc. selected Opus Northwest as a partner to master plan and develop a 1.5-million-square-foot corporate campus for Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management (CRDM) unit. Completed in late 2007, the new campus meets the high-tech needs of scientists and engineers, while enhancing employee comfort and convenience.
Due to its collaborative integrated design-build approach, Opus South was tapped to design and construct the Social Security Administration (SSA) Center in Birmingham, Ala. The LEED-certified, eight-story, 587,500-square-foot facility, replaced the existing SSA building that had housed the SSA since the early 1970s.
Responding to the increased demand for strategically located, large-scale industrial space, Opus West broke ground on the 8.2-million-square-foot Opus Logistics Center – Stockton, the largest new industrial park in Northern California.
In October 2007, Opus broke ground on its own 148,000-square-foot corporate headquarters addition, which is located adjacent to the current headquarter facility in Minnetonka, Minn. This complex will consolidate four office buildings across the western metro area and bring together more than 500 Twin Cities-based Opus employees in one centralized location. With Opus’ commitment to sustainable development, it will seek LEED Gold certification for its new building.
In November 2007, the fourth $1 Million Opus Prize was awarded to AHADI International Institute in Tanzania in honor of Br. Stan Goetschalckx. Two $100,000 awards also were given to So Others Might Eat in Washington, D.C., in honor of Rev. Adams, and the Homeless People’s Federation in Quezon City, Philippines.