strong local economy : Development News

This summer, a group of students from Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) transformed an empty lot downtown into an urban farm.

A number of students who were interested in gardening started up the MCTC Urban Farm Collective, which is extracurricular, according to Katherine Kragtorp, the group’s advisor.  

Although it’s tough to find a spot to garden downtown, the student group, which has 11 core members, connected with Brian Short, a private landowner. He let them use a vacant lot alongside Gethsemane Episcopal Church for the urban farm. 

The students began working the land earlier in the summer, putting in long hours and even expanding Gethsemane’s small garden nearby. “It really was mind-boggling what these students did, coming together, wanting to make this work,” she says. 

Today, the greenspace is divided into a community garden and a separate area for six-foot-by-six-foot individual plots. It also has a butterfly-shaped sensory garden that’s filled with herbs and a children’s section.

In the community garden, which has all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including squash, carrots, beets, pumpkins, raspberries, tomatoes, beans, and more, “The goal is to raise food and get fresh produce to those experiencing food insecurity,” she says. “They want to make it part of the community.”  

The students are working with the church to provide fresh produce to its weekly food shelf. Already, the group has donated more than 500 pounds of food to the food shelf.

Even passersby have gotten involved. “What’s neat about this is that it’s a point where the community can come together and make connections with [people from] all different backgrounds,” she says.

Soon, the urban farm collective hopes to set up “hoop houses,” or miniature greenhouses, in the garden, to extend the growing season, she adds.

Source: Katherine Kragtorp, MCTC’s Urban Farm Collective
Writer: Anna Pratt

A group called Cash Mob St. Paul emerged earlier this summer as a creative way to support local businesses.

Although a cash mob is similar to a flash mob, it’s not about breaking into dance in an unexpected venue, but bringing businesses an influx of paying customers. In some ways, it builds on the "shop local" trend, explains the group's founder, a blogger who uses the name Ima B. Musing.

“The Cash Mob is about being conscientious about where the dollar goes,” she says. “We want to spend it on local entrepreneurs.” Those mom-and-pop businesses, with smaller profit margins, deeply appreciate the edge, she says. “One nice thing is that you can literally see the impact you’re having,” she says, adding that it cycles back through the community.   

In starting up the group, Musing was inspired by Cash Mob Minneapolis, which she used as a model. She wanted to expand its reach into the east metro area, she explains. So far, the 172-member St. Paul group has “mobbed” Homi Mexican restaurant, Something New in the Park gift shop, Midway Book Store and On’s Kitchen Thai Cuisine.

“I checked and each of the businesses have reported an uptick in business,” she says.   

Mob events have specific meeting times, but people can visit a business according to their own schedules, too. Musing spreads the word through various social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup.

For those who have shown up at the event time, “I’ve found that people seem to enjoy the social aspect,” she says.  

The rules are pretty open-ended, but participants are encouraged to spend around $20 during each mob.

The group’s next event is planned for Oct. 23, though the details are still being worked out.

In general, the group wants to spread the wealth. “We want to move it around,” Musing says, adding, “There are so many wonderful businesses all over the place.”

Similar groups have popped up elsewhere, including ones that focus on vegetarian fare and Minnesota-made products. “I think the more the merrier,” she says, adding, “I’m just doing this as a volunteer, as kind of a civic duty,” she says.


Source: Ima B. Musing, blogger, St. Paul Cash Mob
Writer: Anna Pratt

This summer, the Logan Park Neighborhood Association (LPNA) in Northeast Minneapolis organized a task force to preserve a vintage brick building that previously housed the main office of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

The school district recently moved its headquarters to a new $41 million facility in North Minneapolis, according to MPR.

Over the past couple of years, LPNA has brainstormed the possibilities for the old building at 807 Northeast Broadway.

Pat Vogel, who co-chairs the task force with LPNA leader Paula Allen, says “The neighborhood group is very interested in what happens to the building,” adding, “It represents a major chunk of property near our homes.”

Some ideas they have floated, informally, include a full-service health clinic, a fitness center, a small-business incubator, and a commercial kitchen, she says. Although their ideas vary wildly, “The essence of it is that we would like to see something that provides opportunities and resources,” such as jobs or services, she says.

Right now, the school district is working with the city’s office of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) on a plan for the building. “We’re hoping to be a part of the process,” she says. “We want to work with CPED to come up with a mutually beneficial solution.” The neighborhood group favors keeping the building as opposed to tearing it down and rebuilding on the site, she says.

Ryan Cos., which assessed the building’s condition earlier on, concluded that it was in good shape, and that it was more cost-effective to rehab it, she says. At this point, however, it’s too early to say what might happen with the building, she adds.

The school district is still packing up some of its offices in the building, while CPED is doing its due diligence for the site.

In the coming weeks, a marketing plan that incorporates the neighborhood’s feedback will be out, she says.    

Also, a class at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design is joining in the planning process. Usually the class deals with global issues, and this will be its first local project, Vogel says, adding that it will play some part in the decision-making process.   
 
“We’re a building with a dream in search of a developer,” she says. “We want a developer that matches our purposes.”  

Source: Pat Vogel
Writer: Anna Pratt

If a proposal to renovate the vintage Hollywood Theater in Northeast Minneapolis “pencils out,” financially, local developer Andrew Volna could make an offer on it within the coming weeks.

For the moment, the theater’s future is still up in the air.

Volna, of Noisland Industries and Apiary Workspaces, is working with Meghan Elliott, an engineer whose company is Preservation Design Works, to come up with a plan to buy the city-owned building.

They sought feedback from community members at a Sept. 10 public meeting with the Audubon Neighborhood Association at the Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church.

Right now, they’re still doing their due diligence to figure out whether a rehab project is doable, he says.

However, they wanted to gauge the neighborhood’s response before moving forward.

“It will be an extremely expensive project to do,” Volna says. This has partly to do with the fact that it’s an historic building that comes along with preservation requirements.

At the same time, “There’s significant damage to the inside of the building,” he says, adding, “It’s a theater on the outside only.”

Although it’s unclear what kind of tenant would go into the building, “I’ve always thought of something in the creative industry that would benefit from the unique features"--features that include a large open space and Art Deco design elements.

At the meeting, people were receptive to the idea. “It would be a huge net gain for 29th and Johnson," he says. "The commercial node is stuck until the south end of the block gets dealt with.” In his view, “It could bring business to the area, and bring the south end back to life.”

However, because of the unknowns, he's proceeding with caution, Volna says.


Source: Andrew Volna, Noiseland Industries
Writer: Anna Pratt

A vacant industrial complex in Northeast Minneapolis could soon become a hub for locally-produced artisan quality meats, whiskey, and more.

Mike Phillips of Three Sons Meat Co. is collaborating with Kieran Folliard of 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey on the project.

The concept begins with a USDA-certified dry-cured pork product processing plant, while an office and retail area would complement that.  

Also, “There’s some talk of a micro-distillery down the road,” Phillips says.  

The idea is to put businesses in there that can’t be found elsewhere in Minnesota, he says. “There’s no other salumi plant in the state.”

“A big part is to have a Willy Wonka aspect to it,” with pathways throughout the place so that “people can see how things are made.”

The pair hopes to buy the building, but that’s on hold until an environmental study comes through. “It’s a slow process,” he says. “It depends on a whole lot of variables.”

If it works out, they’ll move on to a “clarification of the vision, including what needs to be there and who needs to be there, how it will be laid out,” and more.   

This is the second time the pair have considered this particular building.

If they do move forward on the building, it’ll mean stripping it down to its shell, replacing the roof, landscaping, and building out the plant.

Early on, Phillips and Folliard identified Northeast Minneapolis as the ideal location. “We wanted to be somewhere where we could be a part of the community,” he says, adding that the neighborhood has been supportive of the plan.  

They hope to have the place in production by next spring.


Source: Mike Phillips, Three Sons Meat Co.
Writer: Anna Pratt

Earlier this month, the Gateway Food Coop received a $10,000 matching grant from the Food Coop Initiative (FCI), a national nonprofit organization that promotes the cooperative economy.

Gateway was one of 10 coops across the country to get the seed funding, according to Gateway information.

The coop, which began organizing last year, wants to bring a sustainable, natural foods coop to St. Paul’s diverse East Side.   

Elizabeth Butterfield, who co-chairs the coop’s steering committee, explains the way the grant works: “For every dollar we spend of the Seed Grant money, we are expected to spend a dollar of our own money.” The money will go toward community outreach and member-owner recruitment efforts, including hiring a part-time community organizer.

Additionally, FCI will provide expertise to the coop, “noting if there are techniques that can be repeated in other similar areas throughout the country,” she says.

This kind of relationship building is important for meeting its goals, according to Butterfield. For example, shortly after finding out about the FCI award, "We were approached by Mississippi Market to compete for a $14,000 gift,” which will be given out in October, she says. “Their members will vote to award the money to three out of five nonprofits that are competing for the funds.”

Separately, Phalen Ovenworks is hosting a wood-fired pizza party to benefit the coop on October 6.

The place also raises money for the coop through bread sales on Sunday nights.  

So far, the coop has 84 members, a number it hopes to grow through events this fall. But at this point, it’s too early to say where on the East Side the coop might be go. The coop has yet to do a thorough market study, Butterfield says.  
 
 
Source: Elizabeth Butterfield, organizer, Gateway Food Coop
Writer: Anna Pratt


 

As if living up to its name, Yeti Records, a mom-and-pop vinyl record shop that was previously located at 35th and Nicollet in Minneapolis, is on the move.     

Soon, it will operate out of truck, making stops at local festivals and other outdoor events.

Jake Luck, who owns the shop with his wife, Lisa, explains that the development was prompted by the rising cost of rent and a new baby.

This way, the couple can keep the shop they opened in 2010 going, with much less overhead. The idea of the truck came up because “We wanted to find our own way to make it work, something that nobody else in town was doing,” he says. “This seemed like a way we could do it that would make it fun.”   

In June they raised over $2,000 through an online campaign with Indiegogo.com to buy the truck--a vintage RV from the 1970s.  

Now, the couple is in the process of remodeling the inside of the RV to “look like an actual record store,” he says.

Like its old bricks-and-mortar shop, “We want to make it as warm as possible,” he says, adding, “It’ll be different because it’s a different type of space.”  

Luck is building carrying cases for the records that double as racks, to make them easy to take in and out of the truck.

The advantage of a truck is being able to go to areas of the city that don’t have a record shop, he says.
But the challenge is that only a handful of people can come into the shop at once, which means they’ll have to come up with a system for handling foot traffic, he says. “We’re trying to come up with something organic.”  

He expects the truck’s first public appearance to take place in October.

“Whenever I tell people about the record truck idea, it seems to excite people,” he says. “It’s pretty novel.”

Source: Jake Luck, co-owner, Yeti Records
Writer: Anna Pratt

ArtsHub, a coworking space at Intermedia Arts that’s geared to creative types, has become a “full and thriving space” since it started last fall.  

Maggie McKenna, who hosts ArtsHub, says that between its brightly-colored mezzanine, gallery meeting spaces, weekly table tennis matches, and a newly furnished ArtsHub West in the adjacent building, “The facility has been inspiring,” resulting in unlikely collaborations.

It has achieved near capacity with a diverse group of artists, community organizers, nonprofit organizations, and businesses that are permanent members.

“Every day I come in and strike up a conversation with someone and it seems like a new project lands on my desk, or I’m helping solve a problem, or I just get to hear about a lot of different things happening,” she says.

The place is filled with “the kind of creative people who are willing to talk to strangers and share ideas.”  
That has led to new developments at ArtsHub, including an urban farm, with vegetables and herbs, on its grounds.  

It serves as a demonstration garden for the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate, one of the ArtsHub members. The garden is also accessible to coworkers, she says.

Volunteers helped to “construct a growing space out of nothing,” this spring, along with picnic areas, she says. “We worked this summer to create outdoor spaces as well as indoor spaces.”  

The greenery helps to soften the boxy concrete building. “It’s exciting to watch that grow,” she says.   

Separately, this fall ArtsHub is launching several new programs, including workshops for artists and creative entrepreneurs, free health clinics, and more.

That’s part of the benefit of this type of environment. “There are a lot of ways the community members can learn from each other,” she says, adding, “I can’t imagine being in a traditional office space again.”


Source: Maggie McKenna, ArtsHub at Intermedia Arts
Writer: Anna Pratt

Recently, the American Indian Family Center on St. Paul’s East Side underwent a $50,000 renovation.
 
The center provides family and employment support services to American Indian families, many of whom live in the neighborhood. 
 
Funds for the project came from Drops of Good: The Maxwell House Community Project, which awarded grants to three similar centers across the country, according to center information.
 
Renovations at each center began in July, according to the program’s website.
 
Minneapolis’s Rebuilding Together Twin Cities, a nonprofit organization that focuses on home repair, nominated the American Indian Family Center for the grant.
 
Michaela Brown, a spokesperson for Rebuilding Together Twin Cities, says via email that the project has helped to create a “more welcoming and functional space for the 800 families served each year by the Center.”
 
It’s a visible transformation, inside and out. For starters, the building’s exterior went from a drab gray to bright yellow, with a decorative trim that has Dakota and Ojibwe designs. The site has been landscaped as well.  
 
Over the summer, 250 volunteers helped knock down interior walls, tear out carpet and ceiling tiles, paint walls, and more, an East Side Review story states.  
 
One major addition to the building through the remodeling project is a “teaching kitchen,” where the organization can expand its programs related to nutrition and cooking, Brown explains.
 
Previously, the center, which works to prevent diabetes, had to rent kitchen space elsewhere.
 
The lobby and play area have also been upgraded.
 
Janice LaFloe, a center staffer, says in the East Side Review story, "We're in a pretty worn and used building and so certainly the significance for me is to create that new, fresh, welcoming environment."
 
In a thank-you note to those who pitched in, Elona Street-Stewart, president of the board overseeing the center, adds that the “miracle makeover” puts the agency in a better position to serve the people who come in its doors.
 
 
Source: Michaela Brown, Rebuilding Together Twin Cities
Writer: Anna Pratt
 

 
 
 

Sunrise Cyclery bike shop in Southwest Minneapolis will be moving to a new location along the Midtown Greenway in the coming months.

The bike shop will take over a one-story warehouse space that has long served exclusively as storage, according to Sunrise owner Jamie McDonald.

Its move was prompted by the sale of its longtime home at Bryant and Lake. In many ways, it's an upgrade for the bike shop, which caters to local commuters and recreational riders, with new and used bike parts, he says.  

For starters, at its new digs, the bike shop will be able to spread out more, with 5,000 square feet as opposed to its existing 3,000, he says.

McDonald also has a vision for an open public area, where people can work on their own bikes with the shop’s tools.

In general, the bike shop will be able to offer more programming, and even dedicate some space to the Wellstone Bike Club, an organization it has partnered with through the years. The club helps youth start bicycling.

“The number of bikes we’ll be able to turn through here will be better, too,” he adds.

Sunrise will carry on the look and feel of a “friendly neighborhood bike shop.” To achieve that, it’ll take about $25,000 to build out the industrial building, he says. The project involves everything from installing utilities to getting a new door.

A new roof for the building, plus landscaping for the site, are also in the works. “To get an underused facility and bring it back to some function is a good thing,” he says.   

All in all, the new location will be convenient for bicyclists on the trail. Plus, “More eyes on the Greenway can’t hurt,” McDonald adds. He expects the bike shop to have a positive impact on the area, just as it has at its old location.

“It gives people a meeting place other than the local coffee shop, to do something healthy, fun, and safe,” he says. “They can come and meet with a bunch of other like-minded people and ride their bikes.”  

The bike shop tentatively plans to get its new location up and running in mid-November.

 Source: Jamie McDonald, owner, Sunrise Cyclery
Writer: Anna Pratt

Mead Hall Games & Comics, whose name is a nod to the European mead-drinking and feasting halls of centuries ago, is bringing new life to a basement-level space in Loring Park.

The shop will offer comic books with a special emphasis on local, independent work, along with music records, games and more, according to owner Ian Anderson.

It falls under the umbrella of The Afternoon Company, which Anderson started a decade ago.

Mead Hall will occupy about 400 square feet of a 1,200-square-foot space that it shares with Afternoon Printing, which also belongs to the parent company.

This was an area of the shop that the printing company didn’t need. As such, “We decided to make it spectacular,” he says, adding, “That’s what evolved into the comic book store.”

In the past, the space housed an Italian restaurant, but it’s long been vacant. “It was in rough shape, but we put a lot of work into it,” he says, adding that it gets plenty of natural light.  
 
He and his partner Alex Bowes did the renovation work themselves, including the woodwork, plumbing, and electrical systems. “It’s been a great learning experience,” he says. “The space really needed some love. We’re really proud of it.”   

Reflecting the heritage of its originators, it has a Nordic feel to it. “We’re trying to bring in a lot of design from the classic Nordic vibe we all know and love,” he says.  

Much of the wood in the place has been reclaimed from an old school gymnasium that was in a flood. Although some pieces were ruined, “We cleaned it piece by piece,” he says, adding, “We were able to pull out the Dream Team pieces.”  

By contrast, the print shop area, which is behind the comic store, has a more modern, industrial aesthetic, with plenty of metal.

“We hope we can embrace the nerds of the neighborhood,” and vice versa. “I think it’s an awesome spot to be in. We’re excited.”

The shop is slated to open later this month, or as soon as the proper licensing comes through, Anderson says.


Source: Ian Anderson, The Afternoon Company
Writer: Anna Pratt

An upcoming forum from Envision Minnesota, a sustainable land use nonprofit organization, will highlight cutting-edge public art initiatives underway in St. Paul.

The event, called, "Spotlight on Saint Paul: A Creative Placemaking Forum," is happening on Sept. 18 at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul.

For example, the city has an artist-in-residence program, something that Public Art Saint Paul funds, according to Jill Mazullo, communications director for Envision Minnesota.

Through the program, an artist, in this case, Marcus Young, works alongside city officials. One project he's leading brings poetry to city sidewalks. (See The Line story here.)

"It's a unique public-private partnership," she says.

Also, a city ordinance calls for artists to be members of planning teams related to development, while one percent of capital building budgets are to go to public art, she explains.  

Separately, through a partnership with Springboard for the Arts and Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation (TC LISC, a sponsor of The Line), Irrigate Arts sets in motion short-term artist-led projects about “humanizing the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit construction.”

“I’m struck by the insight of the Irrigate project,” she says. “I’m glad the corridor is becoming more connected, but this placemaking initiative is all about the full of the community.”

The programs bring together the “whimsy of art and bricks and mortar of construction,” she says.

The event’s speakers include Regina Flanagan from Public Art Saint Paul and Jun-Li Wang of Springboard for the Arts. They’ll talk about the city’s ongoing public art programs and offer how-tos for replicating them elsewhere. “Hopefully people go away with good ideas to take back to their own communities.”

Envision Minnesota’s new executive director, Lee Helgen, who helped author the city arts ordinance when he was a City Council member, will moderate the discussion.  

Source: Jill Mazullo, communications director, Envision Minnesota
Writer: Anna Pratt

“Constellation,” an art crawl that first took place last year, will once again wind around various off-the-beaten-path places throughtout South Minneapolis on Sept. 8 and 9.  

This year the art crawl features mobile karaoke, film screenings, theater, a cakewalk, quilt making, fermentation skill-shares, music, and other types of visual and interactive art, according to its website.  

The eclectic show builds on an experiment that took place last year around the same time.

Lacey Prpic Hedtke, an organizer of the event who lives in the Powderhorn neighborhood, explains that it was triggered in part by a visit to Minneapolis by the New York artist group Non Solo. At the time, the group was on a coast-to-coast art tour, and they collaborated with Hedtke and local artist Kevin Loecke in setting up the event.

“We wanted to see what we could do here,” Hedtke says.   

In thinking about alternative exhibition spaces, they ended up pulling together a bunch of local artists who creatively turned their porches, backyards, garages, bedrooms and other personal spaces into public venues.
 
It was such a success that “We thought it was worth doing it again,” she says.

Once more, “People will be able to bike around and see some things that people are doing in different neighborhoods,” Hedtke says.

It’s about building community. “We hope that people come out and talk to people in the neighborhood, not just those who are into art, and that maybe they venture into neighborhoods they've never been to before,” she says. “A lot of projects welcome that."

All in all, the two-day event “highlights the integral role that art and cultural production play in our daily lives, neighborhoods and communities,” by opening up domestic spaces for public cultural events, the Constellation  website reads.

Source: Lacey Prpic Hedtke, “Constellation” organizer
?Writer: Anna Pratt

After a couple of weeks of beta testing, this Thursday, the  ZAP Twin Cities program will be up and running in downtown Minneapolis.   
 
ZAP workers will be on hand at the Nicollet Mall farmers market to share information about the high-tech program, which rewards people for riding their bikes to work or school.
 
The program, which began operating at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus in January, will expand into downtown St. Paul in the coming weeks as well.  
 
Its objective is to “change how people in the Twin Cities choose to get around, helping reduce congestion and improve air quality in the region," a prepared statement about the program reads.
 
To take part, people get a ZAP tag, which gets fixed on a bicycle. “Bicycle trips are automatically logged when a cyclist rides past one of several ZAP readers,” the statement says.
 
The readers, which are solar-powered, beep when a tagged bicyclist passes by, transmitting the data wirelessly to the website.         
 
Steve Sanders, alternative transportation manager at the university, says it has many advantages over self-reporting bicycle trips. Besides eliminating any extra steps, it makes the trips verifiable. “Once you put the tag on [and register it online], you don’t have to do anything” except ride past the sensors, he says. 
 
Along the way, bike commuters pick up various rewards, such as bike accessories, gift cards, and more. 
 
As an added perk, the university offers health benefits for program participation. For example, “If you ride 40 times a year, you can earn points that create a discount for health insurance,” Sanders says.  
 
On the ZAP website, participants can check out their trip data, which includes figures such as calories burned and gallons of gas saved.
 
Since the program started at the university, over 1,200 people have signed up, a figure which is already well over the program's goal of 500 people in the first year.  
 
“It’s been very gratifying,” he says. “People were hungry for a way to have their bike commuting count. Tying it to health has also been important.” 
 
ZAP is a collaboration of the Commuter Connection in downtown Minneapolis, St. Paul Smart Trips, the university, and Dero Bike Rack Company.
 
Source: Steve Sanders
Writer: Anna Pratt
 
 
 

A former grocery store on 25th and Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis, which was damaged in a fire last year, is being transformed to make way for a new restaurant called the Nightingale.

The Nightingale, which plans to offer a full late-night menu, will be defined by a classic design with a modern twist, according to the Southwest Journal.

Exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and a mix of half-moon and single booths will characterize the 75-seat dining room and bar, according to the story. Neighborhood residents Carrie McCabe-Johnston and her husband, Jasha Johnston, co-own the place.

The couple is going for something that’s “a bit more upscale than what the corner is currently offering,” McCabe-Johnston told the Southwest Journal, adding, “this is what we wished was in our neighborhood."

Local designer Rachel Kate, who recently competed on HGTV’s “Design Star” show, is leading the overhauling of the space. Kate, who’s long known the couple, says, “We’ve been talking about doing a restaurant for as long as I can remember."

The place has been completely gutted, which revealed the exposed brick walls behind the old drywall, Kate says. While a lot of things had to go, “The exposed brick is staying,” she says. “It was a fantastic find."

The restaurant will be sophisticated yet friendly, she says. Its ambiance should attract nocturnal types. “It’ll have a dark nighttime feel,” she says.

A lot of metals, woods and brick will set the tone for the place, which has an open floor plan for the most part, she says. “The hard materials and the lighting will drive the design.” 

“There are some cool features in there,” she says, adding that it’s rewarding to bring new life to the space.

The trio aims to open the restaurant this fall.

Source: Rachel Kate, designer
Writer: Anna Pratt