Uptown/Lyn Lake : Development News

The City of Minneapolis is launching a free technical assistance program for budding co-op founders, starting with a two-hour presentation on April 20th.
 
Dubbed C-TAP (Cooperative Technical Assistance Program), the initiative is an outgrowth of the city’s successful B-TAP (Business Technical Assistance Program) for aspiring small and midsize business owners. Like B-TAP, C-TAP is an immersive program designed to support co-op founders and supporters from ideation through opening—and, in some cases, beyond.
 
According to the City of Minneapolis, C-TAP will unfold over three years, in three steps.
 
Step one, happening this year, focuses on “co-op readiness planning” for “groups that are thinking of forming a Co-op…to get a clear picture of the legal, operational and organizational requirements.” It’s basically a crash course in what it means to start a co-op.
 
Step two, set for next year, will focus on “board member and organizational design.” That means training prospective board members in the basics (and nuances) of co-op governance, as well as “one-on-one technical assistance” for select co-ops that require guidance designing their organizational structures. Step two is available to not-yet-open co-ops and existing co-ops that want or need outside assistance.
 
Step three, set for 2018, will revolve around “sustainability [and] profitability.” In other words, setting and keeping newly opened co-ops on the path to stable, long-term profitability and prosperity.
 
C-TAP’s kickoff event, a two-hour presentation dubbed “The State of Co-ops in Minneapolis,” is scheduled for April 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m., at Open Book in Downtown East. The presentation will discuss the city’s current “co-op inventory” and the industries supported by Minneapolis co-ops, introduce and explain C-TAP, and discuss next steps for co-op founders and principals interested in participating.
 
On May 11, Step one officially gets underway with an eight-week “co-op feasibility” course. Held at the City of Minneapolis Innovation Center in the Crown Roller Mill Building near City Hall, the course’s eight sessions will cover the basics of the co-op development process, co-op business plans, finances, cooperative governance, legalities and other topics. Registration is free and open to the public, but prospective co-op groups need to have at least two participants and have selected a product or service to offer prior to signing up.
 
The City of Minneapolis is no stranger to co-op support. According to city government, Minneapolis has plowed some $3.5 million into local co-ops through existing development and support initiatives, and has an additional $850,000 outstanding in loans to three in-development co-ops—including Wirth Cooperative Grocery, a first-of-its-kind grocery co-op in the city’s underserved Northside, slated to open later this year.
 

Good Grocer, an independent grocery store tucked into a low-slung building near the old Kmart at Lake Street and I-35W, has only been open since mid-June. Yet it’s already received coverage in a half-dozen press outlets, from the Star Tribune and the Huffington Post.
 
What makes Good Grocer different? Founded by Kurt Vickman, long-serving (now former) pastor at Edina’s Upper Room Church, Good Grocer is part co-op, part nonprofit social enterprise and all good.
 
According to its website, Good Grocer stocks more than 3,000 items, focusing mostly on fresh fruits and vegetables, and minimally processed meats, dairy and baked goods. Unlike a traditional co-op, whose members pay fees on joining, Good Grocer regulars pay for their memberships by volunteering at least 2.5 hours per month at the store: stocking shelves, working checkout, whatever needs to be done. In return, they get 25 percent discounts to sticker price on everything they buy at the store that month. Good Grocer has at least 300 members and counting.
 
The goal, says Vickman, is inside-out empowerment — the inverse of the standard outside-in, or top-down, charity model. Though Vickman doesn’t keep detailed statistics on members’ economic status, the immediate neighborhood is among Minneapolis’ poorest precincts.
 
Good Grocer helps locals who “value eating well, but can’t afford the ever-increasing cost of food” to partake in a food quality experience usually reserved for Whole Foods shoppers. By giving members an outlet to give back to their fellow shoppers in a tangible way, Good Grocer is literally helping people help themselves.
 
“Low-income people aren’t helpless or giftless,” says Vickman. “We all have gifts and strengths within us. It’s [Good Grocer’s] mission to draw those gifts and strengths out of our members and empower them to define themselves in terms of their potential, not their limitations.”
 
Good Grocer also addresses its densely populated environs’ glaring lack of fresh food options. Its corner of South Minneapolis doesn’t meet the technical definition of “food desert,” but the Midtown Global Market and the Uptown Cub — the closest reliable sources for fresh food — aren’t close at hand.
 
“We thought we’d get some positive feedback about our choice of location,” says Vickman, “but we were really taken aback by the number of people who came in to say, ‘Man, thank you for opening a grocery store here.’”
 
Then again, Good Grocer isn’t a straightforward charity. The blocks to the north and west of Good Grocer are economically diverse — and, in some areas, downright affluent — so a fair number of locals can afford to shop at the store without much regard to price. Good Grocer counts on those folks to patronize the store in numbers and pay full price for their purchases. Full-price customers subsidize in-need members who rely on the 25 percent discount and ensure that Good Grocer can afford to stock top-quality food items.
 
Indeed, Vickman sees Good Grocer as a low-friction way for people of means to give back in a more meaningful way than simply donating some cans to a food pantry or church around the holidays. The store’s motto is “Let us never tire of doing good,” a Scriptural reference to Christians’ charitable duties. That motto neatly summarizes Vickman’s choice to leave his relatively comfortable appointment at Upper Room and strike out as a social entrepreneur.
 
“I decided that I wanted to spend more of my time living the themes I was preaching, rather than just talking about them,” he explains.
 
Despite Good Grocer’s ecclesiastical pedigree, the store is strictly non-denominational — non-religious, actually. “No one’s handing out tracts at the door,” says Vickman, who notes that the store’s membership base is a reflection of the neighborhood’s racial and denominational diversity: first- and second-generation immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa shop and volunteer alongside the area’s established European and African-American residents.
 
“We’re not looking for help or support from outside the community here,” says Vickman. “We’re proud to be creating our own solutions.”
 
 
 

 
Kickstarter connects you with people willing to fund the innovative idea you’re working on in your garage. Why can’t you get funding for the innovative idea you have for the vacant storefront down the block?
 
Hoodstarter may have an answer. Co-founders Justin Ley and David Berglund, who work together at UnitedHealth, recently finalized and launched a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing/funding platform that allows users to post vacant properties, post and vote on ideas for new onsite businesses or public uses, and fund entrepreneurs willing and able to turn those ideas into tangible businesses.
 
Property owners, real estate brokers, entrepreneurs and Twin Cities residents mingle on its website, exploring property listings, offering ideas, gauging interest and forging new connections.
 
“The goal of Hoodstarter is to connect neighborhood and city residents — anyone with a stake in and ideas for the vacant space — with real estate brokers equipped to market empty properties, property owners looking to monetize their holdings, and companies or entrepreneurs willing to shoulder the risk of launching a new use,” says Berglund.
 
“We’re facilitating connections between all the parties to a typical real estate transaction,” adds Ley, “including community members directly and indirectly affected by the project. Basically, we’re taking a model that hasn’t changed in 50 years” — commercial real estate development — “and making it much more efficient, while also creating opportunities for businesses and ideas that might not have access to other sources of funding.”
 
Though the platform hasn’t yet provided direct funding for any nascent businesses, the founders follow the well-worn model used by other successful crowdfunding platforms: taking a five-percent cut of users’ contributions and passing the rest along to entrepreneurs.
 
Hoodstarter’s database includes vacant sites across the Twin Cities, from expansive, high-visibility spaces like the unoccupied retail level at St. Paul’s new West Side Flats to abandoned churches and petite storefronts along community corridors like Chicago and James avenues in Minneapolis.
 
In addition to listings with detailed information about the property, including its price per square foot (when publicly available), leasing agent and amenities, Hoodstarter has a social function that supports lively debate over user-generated ideas, posted properties and urban life in general. The community is largely self-policing: A recent post suggesting that a prime Chicago Avenue storefront be left vacant was met with swift, if polite, criticism.
 
Less than a year and a half since its initial launch, Hoodstarter is already gaining traction across the Twin Cities. “When you see a vacant lot or storefront, there’s an intrinsic desire to envision its potential,” says Ley, especially if it’s in your neighborhood. “You can’t help but wonder, ‘Why has that place been vacant for so long?’ It’s a frustrating feeling.”
 
The South Minneapolis resident speaks from experience. His commute takes him past the same vacant space every day — a retail storefront empty for so long that no one quite remembers what it used to be.
 
Ley’s “pet” storefront crisply illustrates the problems Hoodstarter seeks to remedy. The property sits on an otherwise busy corner, near Angry Catfish, the Baker’s Wife and other popular businesses. It has obvious assets: space for indoor and outdoor seating, corner visibility and a floor plan tailor made for a restaurant or cafe.
 
But before Hoodstarter approached him, the owner had legitimate concerns about developing the property, says Ley, or even finding a temporary tenant for the space. According to Ley and Berglund, even well-meaning property owners who care about their neighborhoods can be overwhelmed by the cost, time investment and risks associated with finding a commercial tenant or developing a space on their own.
 
And, counterintuitively, many owners prefer to leave their properties empty as commercial land values rise, in the hopes of cashing out as the market peaks. Hoodstarter’s success will depend on its ability to convince property owners that they stand to gain from filling vacancies now, not waiting to sell later.
 
If all goes well, the owner of the vacant South Minneapolis property may soon have a new tenant or buyer. Last fall, Hoodstarter held a Better Block event at the site itself, continuing the conversation that began online.
 
According to Ley and Berglund, this hybrid model — using in-person events to publicize vacant properties and build support for the best usage ideas — could be a big component of Hoodstarter’s model going forward. But first, they need to fill some vacancies.
 

The much beloved Art Outlet, formerly located on I-394 (or Highway 12 for long-time residents) in Golden Valley just west of Minneapolis, is back. Carter Averbeck, owner of Omforme Design at 24^th Street and Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis, has teamed up with Greg Hennes, an art industry veteran and Art Outlet’s originator, for a two-week original art extravaganza at Omforme.
 
“Greg and I have banded our two small businesses together to bring back Art Outlet, and to promote original art and affordable art buying,” Averbeck says. “We’ve been hanging art throughout Omforme’s space for the last week. We’ve got artwork all the way up to the ceiling!”
 
For many years, Hennes’ eclectic Art Outlet was a prime destination for purchasing original art at discounted prices. Hennes stocked more than 1,000 original works of art in diverse media—at up to 50 percent off retail prices. In 2010, Art Outlet closed after the building was sold.
 
Hennes currently owns the Hennes Art Company in Uptown, a corporate and residential art consulting business that also offers custom framing and art brokering services. “But he has a lot of art,” Averbeck explains, “and reviving Art Outlet is something Greg’s been wanting to do for a long while.”
 
“Omforme already promotes local artists,” he adds. “So teaming to make art accessible to people who can’t afford retail price tags is something we both wanted to do.” Before opening Omforme, Averbeck experimented with several pop-up shops. So inserting Art Outlet as pop-up inside Omforme was a natural fit.
 
The pop-up Art Outlet includes works by a mix of local, national and international artists. “Name a style, a medium, a genre, and we’ve got it,” Averbeck says, from sketches, posters, prints and paintings to sculpture. A tag on each work includes information about where to learn more about the artist. Price points begin at $25.
 
The Lowry Hill East area, or LoHi, just south of downtown Minneapolis includes the Loring, Wedge and Lyn-Lake neighborhoods. In addition to Omforme—which offers a mix of vintage and modern pieces that Avebeck restores and updates with singular panache—unique boutiques like Serendipity Road and the Showroom are nearby.
 
Restaurants including French Meadow Bakery and Café, Bluestem Bar, Heyday and World Street Kitchen also generate a livable, vibrant neighborhood where people increasingly like to meet, eat and shop.
 
The temporary Art Outlet, which continues through January 30, “is another edgy, artsy, interesting small offering along Lyndale,” Averbeck says. “Slowly, LoHi is coming into it’s own.”
 
In fact, Omforme is doing so well, Averbeck is considering a move in the neighborhood to a new space up to five times the shop’s current size.
 
 

They’re known as granny flats, mother-in-law apartments, even Fonzie suites for those who remember the Fonz’s digs above the Cunninghams' garage in the tv show “Happy Days.” For years, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have been popular throughout the U.S. for homeowners needing an additional, separate living space for a relative (or family friend) adjacent to main house—and as a flexible housing option in developed urban neighborhoods.
 
Now ADUs are legal in Minneapolis. On December 5, 2014, the Minneapolis City Council passed a zoning code text amendment allowing ADUs on lots with single or two-family homes. Shortly thereafter, architect Christopher Strom, who spent countless hours working with zoning administrators during discussions about the code change, launched his new initiative, Second Suite.
 
“I wanted to be the first to market my expertise with the zoning related to these small residential dwellings,” says Strom, who has a thriving business as a residential architect in Minneapolis, and has designed ADU-type cottages for clients in the suburbs and northern Minnesota.
 
He learned during informational meetings that “a lot of people didn’t want ADUs because they fear too many people would be added to the neighborhood, resulting in extra noise and traffic,” Strom says. “But the new law limits ADUs to a total of 1,000 square feet, including parking; they’re only feasible on certain lots, depending on the positioning of the primary house; and the primary house must be owner occupied. Only one accessory building is allowed per property, so most people will combine an ADU with a detached garage.”
 
As a result, Strom continues, “The majority of the new ADUs to be built in Minneapolis will be Fonzie suites. Remember how he lived above the Cunninhgams' garage? He had a cool bachelor pad totally separate from the main house, but was always at the Cunninghams'.”
 
ADUs are a viable option for creating more space, whether for additional storage, an art studio, home office or apartment for aging parents. With the new zoning, the units can also include a small kitchen and/or bath. “They’re wonderful for seniors, and a nice way to establish multi-generational living next to the primary house while giving the occupant an integral level of independence,” Strom explains.
 
St. Paul, particularly the neighborhood of St. Anthony Park, is currently looking at its building codes, as well, by studying the feasibility of allowing ADUs on single-family lots.  
 
Strom adds that ADUs are “a great entry point for people to start working with an architect.” A well-considered design might result in an ADU that blends in with the architectural style of the existing residence, or be entirely different.
 
Moreover, Strom adds, “Second Suite represents a lifestyle that I want to be able to deliver to my clients. This lifestyle is about families pooling resources and enjoying more quality time together through care-giving that enables grandparents to help with childcare and adult children to help with aging parents.”
 
 

Soo Visual Arts Center, colloquially known as SooVAC, is making a big move in April 2015. Founded by the late Suzy Greenberg in 2001, the non-profit art space—which for two years has also operated a satellite operation called SooLocal—will consolidate the two galleries and move to 2909 Bryant Avenue South, a large three-story brick warehouse building adjacent to the Minneapolis Greenway.
 
“We have steadily increased our budget and programming for the past three years,” explains Carolyn Payne, executive director. “In evaluating SooLocal, we decided it would serve our organization best to be under the same roof as SooVAC’s main space, and the new location has room for that. We are also in the early planning stages of a visual arts residency program and this building has room for us to create that programming as well.”
 
SooVAC will move into a space previously used as an event center. “The building is very green,” Payne says, “and along with radiant floor heating, [the management] requires LED lighting. Many other organizations and museums have transitioned to LED lighting. We’re working with lighting designers that have been in on that to ensure that we continue to put our exhibitions in the best light, so to speak.” The space is also be designed by Will Natzel, an artist and designer, in consultation with  Lars Mason, director of academic services at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a SooVAC advisory board member.
 
SooVAC prides itself on arts accessibility, building community through art and representing local artists. “As soon as we knew we were going to move, we had a public meeting with artists, supporters and community members,” Payne says. “We asked them where they would like SooVAC to move and what they would like to see in our new space. We had a size and price range, and looked at everything within those parameters.”
 
The new space was selected because it “met and even exceeded our requirements, and also allows us to stay in our current South Minneapolis neighborhood.” In addition, Payne is looking forward to the Greenway’s potential to attract new audiences for SooVAc’s programming and hopes to collaborate on projects with the Greenway Coalition.
 
 

What do an airy and daylit community library, a renewed college studio-arts building, a sustainably designed and modern apartment structure, and a renovated historic performing-arts center have in common? All of these Twin Cities projects were recently selected for a 2014 Honor Award during the 80th annual AIA Minnesota Annual Convention and Exhibition.
 
A panel of jurors from outside the state selected eight projects for Honor Awards from 73 submissions. Four of the awards were for projects in the Twin Cities: Hennepin County Walker Library designed by VJAA, Minneapolis; Brunsfield North Loop Apartments designed by Snow Kreilich Architects, Minneapolis; the renovation of Northrop, a historic performing-arts and innovation center on the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis campus by HGA Architects and Engineers, Minneapolis; and, also by HGA, Phase II of the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, the Studio Art renovation and expansion, at Macalester College in St. Paul.
 
Each of those Twin Cities architecture firms also won for additional projects located outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul. HGA was awarded for the Marlboro Music Cottages at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont. VJAA won for its Welland International Flatwater Centre, Toronto 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto; and Snow Kreilich received accolades for a home on Lake Minnetonka. In addition, Leo A Daly, Minneapolis, received an Honor Award for the design of The Toro Company’s headquarters in Bloomington.
 
The AIA Honor Awards have five categories: architecture, interiors, restoration and renovation, urban design and master planning, and small projects. This year's awards were selected by a panel of jurors from outside the state: Angela Brooks, FAIA, Principal, Brooks + Scarpa, Los Angeles; Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, Principal & Executive Director, Perkins Eastman, New York; and Dan Rockhill, J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Architecture, University of Kansas, and Executive Director, Studio 804.
 
According to an AIA Minnesota press release, the jurors’ selection of this year's Honor Awards offers “a real snapshot of the meaning of architecture today.” The awards will be presented to recipients on Friday, December 5, at the 2014 Awards Celebration at International Market Square in Minneapolis. The celebration will also showcase AIA Minnesota’s 2014 Gold Medal recipient Julie Snow, FAIA, Snow Kreilich Architects.
 

With the recent surge of new boutique businesses opening along and near Lyndale Avenue just south of downtown Minneapolis, the Lowry Hill East area is beginning to look a lot like the Uptown of yore. That is, before national chains like Apple and Urban Outfitters showed up and ran many of the mom and pop establishments out town—or a little down the road.

LoHi East, the area just south of downtown Minneapolis containing the Loring, Wedge and Lyn-Lake neighborhoods, has long been Uptown’s beloved, disheveled sibling. Now, some local businesses are seeking to rebrand the area with a catchy name referencing Lowry Hill East (just as the North Loop is colloquially called NoLo).

“There are some awesome businesses that have just opened up. It’s exactly what Uptown used to be,” says Carter Averbeck, owner of Omforme Design. He’s leading the grassroots rebranding effort.

With a new name, and a new crowd of residents and businesses settling in, the area seems to be shedding its somewhat granola vibe for a trendier, modern-day hipster character. As Averbeck says: “We’re trading in our Birkenstocks for tattoos.”

At least nine new shops and restaurants opened in the area within the last year. LoHi East also seems to be riding the recent wave of development storming the Uptown area. A whole host of new luxury apartments like Blue on Bryant and the Murals of Lynlake, among others, are attracting a new generation of residents.

“Of course, it’s all 20- and 30-something-year-olds and the new shops are right up their alley. If you’re 27 and have a new pad, you want to fill it up with cool stuff,” Averbeck says.

Averbeck’s business—a home décor shop that specializes in reviving vintage items with singular panache—is being joined by other unique boutiques like Serendipity Road and the Showroom. The latter bills itself as a place “where fashion, jewelry, accessories, furniture and art cooperate.”

New eateries and bars like Heyday and World Street Kitchen are also help generate a livable, vibrant neighborhood where people walk and meander, instead of simply passing through.

“Every storefront that had been vacant for years is now getting snapped up,” Averbeck says. “Right now the revival is in its infancy but it’s moving fast.”

Looking to capitalize on the momentum, Averbeck says he and other business owners are putting together an event this summer that would close off Lyndale Avenue for a big runway fashion show and festival. They haven’t secured the permits to do so yet, but he says the tight-knit business community is meeting regularly with the neighborhood and other business associations to keep the renaissance rolling.








 

The fast-growing electronic cigarette trend has meant dozens of e-cig stores have been popping up around the Twin Cities. None, however, have been more artfully designed than Infinite Vapor in Uptown.

Tricia Khutoretsky, founder of the hot Public Functionary art space in Northeast Minneapolis, is curating the new shop, which currently includes a collection of screenprints from local artists such as Greg Gossel, Eric Inkala, and Adam Garcia, and a large mural by designer Mike Cina depicting wisps of vapor climbing a wall.

Longtime Twin Cities’ nightclub promoter Beecher Vaillancourt, and his friend and local mixed-martial arts fight promoter Gavin Rydell, own the shop. Anjel Vaillancourt, Beecher’s sister, is the store manager. Beecher successfully quit smoking after Rydell offered him an e-cig years ago. Anjel and the siblings’ parents also all laid down tobacco for the allegedly safer electronic option.

Beecher Vaillancourt and Rydell now have seven stores across Minnesota and North Dakota, and another starting up in Madison, Wisconsin. But the team is pouring special attention into the Uptown location, exploring how a local e-cig shop can do more than just sell supplies. They want to encourage people to quit tobacco for good, while also celebrating local community.

The store started the year with a quit-smoking campaign called “Kick It: A stop smoking movement by Infinite Vapor.” Through February, the store is also promoting a “Kick It For Love” special by offering two-for-one deals.

The shop is also working with a local organization that puts disabled veterans to work recycling e-cigarette atomizers—the piece that absorbs the liquid before it’s vaporized and inhaled.

A degree of uncertainty currently surrounds the future of e-cigarettes in Minnesota. Widespread adoption across the state has led several cities to institute limits on where people can puff on their e-cigs. A bill from DFL State Rep. Phyllis Kahn seeks to treat e-cigarettes like normal smokes under the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act.

Source: Anjel Vaillancourt
Writer: Kyle Mianulli

Omforme, a Norwegian word meaning "to transform,” is the name of a new shop at 24^th and Lyndale in Minneapolis. Omforme also describes the ways in which its owner, Carter Averbeck, who is part Norwegian, gives furniture and other home goods a new lease on life. 

The shop offers a mix of vintage and modern pieces that reflect every era, as well as original furnishings from local designers. Some pieces are restored to their former glory, while others get a modern update, Averbeck explains.   

The shop evolved out of Averbeck’s other business, Trompe Decorative Finishes, through which Averbeck creates murals and decorative finishes for commercial and residential spaces. Often, when clients stopped by the studio, Averbeck says, they would remark on the unique furniture in the space--often pieces that Averbeck had reconditioned.

Before opening Omforme, Averbeck experimented with several pop-up shops. Those were successful, so he was able to secure a permanent home for Omforme.  

From the beginning, Averbeck wanted to be near Uptown, an area that has an artistic, hip edge to it, he says. 

Lyndale seemed like an ideal location. “Lyndale is moving so fast into what Uptown used to be,” with many new retail shops, restaurants, and apartments, he says. “I got lucky. It was the right space at the right time.”  

Previously, the 1,100-square-foot space had been a Gothic-style hair salon. Although the place needed a lot of attention, “the building has great bones,” Averbeck says.

Averbeck took his design cues from the vintage building. Old World details blend with crisp modern shades of white and charcoal gray, while the colorful pieces for sale lend ambiance. “It’s like a high-class manner house,” in Europe, “a timeless space,” he says. “People say it’s like walking out of Minneapolis, into some place else.”  
 

Source: Carter Averbeck, owner, Omforme 
Writer: Anna Pratt 

Pharmacie, a boutique at 28^th and Lyndale in South Minneapolis, held its grand opening on Saturday, November 9.

The storefront space, which is part of the Greenleaf Apartments development, was previously a showroom for apartment rental, according to Sam Beberg, who co-owns Pharmacie with Roger Barrett. Beberg also owns and operates Hot Plate, a brunch spot in South Minneapolis, with Carrie Lewis.

For Beberg and Barrett, bringing Pharmacie to fruition has been a two-year endeavor. 

Pharmacie sells furniture, with a special emphasis on pieces made by independent designers from around the country, plus vintage items. Other household goods for sale include light fixtures, handmade pillows, glassware, cookbooks, toys, art, and gifts.  

The store’s aesthetic plays off of the French spelling of pharmacy. Apothecary items, candles, and beakers lend an authentic pharmacy feeling. A floor-to-ceiling graphic image of an old-fashioned pharmacy acts as a backdrop. The 1,400-square-foot space, which has tall ceilings, gets plenty of natural light through big windows.

With its reclaimed wood decor and modern fixtures, “Someone said [the shop] looks like an industrial farm, with the modern and rustic look,” Beberg says.   

Beberg and Barrett settled on the space in part for its proximity to Lyn-Lake and Uptown. 

The area is “like the new Hennepin,” Beberg says. “We feel like a lot of places are within walking distance, including bars and restaurants.” 

He hopes to see more shops fill in around the area, including the next-door space. Fortunately, the area gets plenty of foot traffic. “It would be nice to see more retail on the street,” he says. “Everyone wants more businesses so they can feed off of each other.”  


Source: Sam Beberg, co-owner, Pharmacie
Writer: Anna Pratt 

Heyday, a new restaurant coming to Minneapolis's Uptown neighborhood, has big plans to transform the space once occupied by the former Sunny Side Up Café and an adjacent Laundromat.    

Lorin Zinter, a principal of Heyday whose partner is chef Jim Christiansen, says the pair scouted out lots of restaurant spaces all over the city for several years before settling on this location. They’re fans of Uptown, which is ideally situated “so close to single-family homes, condos, apartments and other great businesses. It was a great fit for us.”

To make way for Heyday, the concept for which they’re still developing, the pair is planning a dramatic renovation of the space. The building will take on a whole new look and feel, he says.

For starters, they’ll be removing the exterior siding and installing new windows and doors, while the interior will be brought down to the floorboards and studs. “We’ll start from scratch and it’ll be open, extending up to the ceiling,” he says, adding, “I love the original exposed hardwood ceilings.”

Natural materials will characterize the place, while local artist Terrence Payne, founder of the Rosalux Gallery, will create an original piece that will lend plenty of personality to one interior wall. “We’re excited to work with him. He’s immensely talented. We want to use local artists, so visitors can see and feel the impact of people in Minneapolis within the restaurant,” Zinter says.

A bar and lounge will take up close to half of the space, while the restaurant portion will fill out the remainder of the nearly 4,600-square-foot area, he says.  

Even though Zinter and Christiansen have a background in fine dining, “We don’t want it to be only a special-occasion place. We want it to be a place in the neighborhood where people feel free to walk down anytime.”

Construction will start in mid-July, while the restaurant aims to open in December.  

“I think there’s such a great food scene already on Lyndale, and it’s building nicely. We want to contribute to that and make this part of the city that much more fun and enjoyable,” he says.

Source: Lorin Zinter, co-owner, Heyday
Writer: Anna Pratt

Last year, the Soo Visual Arts Center opened a temporary pop-up shop in a vacant storefront space in Minneapolis’s Lyndale neighborhood, as a sort of experiment.

The place, which it calls Soo Local, has turned out to be so successful that the gallery has decided to stick with it in the long term, according to Carolyn Payne, who heads the gallery.

Kim Bartmann, who owns the nearby Pat's Tap and other local restaurants, rents the space to the gallery, Payne says.

When it became available, Soo Visual Arts jumped at it. Despite a strong arts community in the area, “There aren’t a lot of visual art spaces that highlight locals,” she says.

Already, Soo Local has helped the gallery to broaden its reach, and work with a larger, more diverse pool of artists. The place has featured 200 artists since November of 2012. “It’s amazing, that’s sometimes what we show in one year at Soo Visual Arts,” says Payne.

She characterizes the place as a “more spontaneous, experimental space. We can do things quicker that don’t fit into the exhibition schedule.”

The second location gives the gallery the chance to partner with other local groups, something it often didn’t have the space or time to do in the past. SooLocal is “a way for us to do even more programming within the community.”

It’s also a venue for exploring new ideas from artists, often those who don’t have gallery experience, she says. In those cases, SooLocal is able to help people with everything from installing a professional-level show to writing press releases.
 
She’s been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm for SooLocal. In April, the place was so full for a  performance by artist Jaime Carrera that she had to turn people away from the doors, she says.  

“Tons of people walk in. It has a neighborhood vibe, with lots of families, artists, and non-artists coming in,” she says. “It’s been really fun and we’ve met a lot of people.”
 
Now, she’s hoping that SooLocal can secure more funding for regular hours, upgrades to the space, and an internship program.

Source: Carolyn Payne, SooLocal
Writer: Anna Pratt

Art Materials, which has had a longstanding presence in Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood, recently underwent a remodel and added a Northeast location.

Both projects unfolded simultaneously, according to Larry Brown, who co-owns the business with his wife, Joanne. In fact, many of the finishing touches on the remodel of its Lyndale store were still being made this week.

At one point, the store had considered relocating from Lyndale, but after putting the project on hold for a year, “We discovered in that year that Uptown had turned into a veritable beehive of building activity,” with lots of new apartments, restaurants and more. “It was a highly desirable place to be.”

So, after deciding to stay put, “We felt the building needed to be rehabbed,” he says.

The renovation process opened up the space in the vintage building, which had once served as a creamery with an attached garage. Higher ceilings and concrete floors came to light, while lighting fixtures were upgraded, which is important in a store that sells paint colors, he says, adding, “It has a softer and more pleasing look.”

A colorful mural reflecting various aspects of the city, something the store didn’t have room for before, brings a nice contrast to the gray walls, he says.

Later on, the store hopes to give the exterior a facelift, too, he says.

The art-supply store had long wanted to open a Northeast location, to serve the city’s Arts District. “There’s been a void in the area for the things we do and we see it as something to capitalize on,” he says.

Art Materials was able to settle into an industrial space in Northeast, which has a funkier look.

Both stores are destination places, as is a third location in Fargo, North Dakota.

“We have succeeded in changing the face of our business in Minneapolis to be something different and better than what it was,” Brown says.


Source: Larry Brown, co-owner, Art Materials
Writer: Anna Pratt

Morrissey’s Irish Pub, which opened earlier this month, is helping to transform part of Lake Street in South Minneapolis.  

Scott Schuler, who co-owns the place with several partners, says it fills a unique niche in the area.  “There’s never been an Irish pub in Uptown. It needed a proper pub,” says Schuler, who is also an owner of Pizza Savoy.

In the past, the space at 913 W. Lake St., which housed Viva Brazil and several other restaurants before that, had been “underfunded and undermanaged,” Schuler says. For a long time, along this part of Lake Street, “There wasn’t a lot going on,” he says.

But the new owners are optimistic about things turning around here. “The whole block is being revitalized,” with the pub, the new Golden Leaf Tobacco shop and the soon-to-open Spill the Wine, he says.  

The pub, which features traditional Irish fare with an upscale twist, plus live music, takes its name from Irish co-owner Paul Crilly’s grandfather. In the 1920s, his grandfather, a commander in the Irish Republican Army, went by the assumed name Johnny Morrissey.  

Although the space had good bones, Schuler says, it required a complete overhaul to make way for the pub. “We literally gutted it, down to the studs,” installing new electrical and plumbing systems and going through an extensive build-out, he says. “It was a substantial redo,” he adds. “We’re proud of the outcome.”

Sleek black leather booths, an open-rafter ceiling, wooden beams, an exposed brick wall, a custom-designed bar, and a unique pulley fan system, along with photos of the old country, give the space a warm and comfortable vibe, he says. As a testimony to that, “People say it feels like it’s been here forever,” while even some Irish tourists who’ve come by said it felt like home.  

Already, the place has been well received by the neighborhood, Schuler says. A number of people have been “thanking us for opening, saying it’s just what the area needs.".

Source: Scott Schuler, co-owner, Morrissey’s Irish Pub
Writer: Anna Pratt