Russell C Nelson

Russ Nelson, a dean of the local commercial real estate scene, sold his ownership interest in the firm NTH to younger partners and plans to retire at the end of 2017. Nelson, 70, was a founder of Nelson, Tietz and Hoye, now called NTH, and helped many of the biggest companies in the Twin Cities find or build offices. In addition to his 35 years in Twin Cities real estate, Nelson led the Minneapolis Downtown Council. Nelson and NTH managed transactions that involved new headquarters for U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy and the former Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis; Health Partners in Bloomington; and Ecolab in St. Paul. Nelson raised his family in St. Paul with his wife, Nancy, who until her retirement several years ago ran a nonprofit that worked to prevent teen pregnancy. They were involved with the Family Partnership and in raising $8 million for the Como Park Zoo’s polar bear exhibit. As past chairman and a longtime member of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, Nelson helped create the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District, a business self-taxing district that funds the DID Ambassadors, who have increased hospitality and safety, and also cleanliness and recycling. Nelson grew up in Madison, Wis., where he was awarded a University of Wisconsin scholarship in Scandinavian studies, including a trip to Norway. He earned an MBA from the University of Washington before moving to the Twin Cities to take a public finance job with the former Dain Bosworth.