Development News

A winter bicyclist, sledders, a roofline, bare trees, and snowflakes all appear in the 150-plus-square-foot mosaic that was unveiled on Nov. 19 at Bryant Avenue Market in Southwest Minneapolis.

The nearby Volunteers of America Southwest Senior Center, which does a lot of arts-related work, secured $11,900 earlier on from the city and the Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) to pursue the mosaic, according to Mary Ann Schoenberger, who heads the center.

Such projects are "a really great way to get people working inter-generationally," she says, adding that by making certain building improvements, "We're also giving back to the community."  

The center worked closely with CARAG to pick out the site. Bryant Avenue Market is on a prominent corner, and it had been tagged numerous times, she says. "The neighborhood association was interested in doing building improvements [on the corner]," she says.    

To come up with the design, the center held a couple of brainstorming sessions with community members while also getting feedback from an online survey.

"A lot of people wanted a winter scene," she says. "There are a lot of things that celebrate summer. People thought, 'wouldn't it be neat to celebrate winter?'"

Another theme was the city's bike-friendliness. It helped that "Bryant Avenue has a major bike path," she says.

With the guidance of artist Sharra Frank, the center hosted numerous workshops with community members over six weeks to put together the mosaic.

The 185 all-ages volunteers came from the senior center, Clara Barton Open School, Walker Place, Bryant Square Park, Optum Health, and elsewhere.

Many of them worked on the 43 snowflakes that can be individually identified.

In a piece about the mosaic she wrote for Southwest Patch, Schoenberger states that each snowflake "is a work of art in itself and we were amazed at how seven patterns could result in such diverse creations."

She has high praise for the artist, who"remained calm and the final result is amazingly professional considering how many hands were involved in the project."


Source: Mary Ann Schoenberger, executive director, Southwest Senior Center
Writer: Anna Pratt

The California-based company Trader Joe's is looking at the possibility of developing a site at 27th and Lyndale Avenue in Southwest Minneapolis, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports. 

Prominent radio show personality Garrison Keillor is relocating his bookstore, Common Good Books, from Western Avenue North in St. Paul to a larger storefront space at nearby Macalester College.

To make way for the bookstore, this month Macalester began a $1.2 million renovation project at the 1923 Lampert Building, which will take about four months, according to Macalester’s newspaper, The Mac Weekly.

The bookstore will fill the first floor, while the college will sell textbooks on the second floor, according to David O’Neill, marketing director for the bookstore.

Previously, the building housed the Macalester Summit-Hill Seniors Living at Home Program, the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth, and living space for retired faculty, The Mac Weekly reports.

At the existing space, “We’ve had a wonderful patronage; people come into the store and know the staff by name, and it’s a great neighborhood,” O'Neill says.

That being said, “We were landlocked as far as space. We needed a larger space.”

The bookstore will nearly double its space with 3,000 square feet. “It’ll allow us to have more titles and books,” with more shelf space.
 
Although the design is still coming together, the new bookstore will have a similar feel to the current space, with author quotes appearing here and there, and many of the current bookshelves making the move.  

“We’ll look at the floor plan and figure out how to lay it out, with places to read and hang out,” says O'Neill.

In contrast to Common Good's current basement-level location, the new place will have more natural light. The windows will also give passersby the opportunity to get a taste for what’s inside. “We encourage people to come in and spend some time there,” he says.     

Additionally, the bookstore will be able to host literary events in partnership with the school, which has lacked a trade bookstore since Ruminator Books closed in 2004, according to a prepared statement.
 
Keillor adds in the prepared statement, “It’s a good neighborhood, and with all those college students around, there’s a sense of high spirits in the air, and you need to inhale that if you’re in the book business.”
 
Source: David O’Neill, marketing director, Common Good Books
Writer: Anna Pratt

Stone’s Throw Urban Farm, which is working to redefine local sustainable food, will expand its territory next year.

The farm was formed this fall through the merger of Uptown Farmers and Concrete Beet Farmers in Minneapolis and Pig’s Eye Urban Farm in St. Paul.  

The merger made sense because the farms shared similar beliefs and farming practices, according to Stone’s Throw farmer Alex Liebman.

“We want to sustain those business practices and we hope we do a better job because we’re more focused with our energy and time,” he says.  

Right now the farm is trying to acquire enough land to make the business financially viable--to the extent that it can pay its workers a living wage, he says.

Besides the practical financial benefits, “We all sort of were becoming good friends and sharing resources,” he says. “It’s a win-win for all of us.”

In 2012, the farm plans to convert up to 10 vacant lots in St. Paul into farmland, along with a handful of other properties in Minneapolis.

“It’s an ongoing process to try to get vacant lots and find out if the landowners are receptive to the idea of beautifying it and growing vegetables.”   

Securing land for the long term is another objective they’ll be tackling going forward.   

Liebman is optimistic about some zoning changes being discussed that will “allow us to become a legitimate land use in the city,” he says.

The changes will help farms get established in the Twin Cities. As it is, farms operate in a gray area, he says. With the new zoning rules, which still need to be approved, “There’s more legal clarity about what we can and can’t do.”  
 
Although the urban farm scene is “small and intimate,” there’s a lot of excitement about the practice, with a number of nonprofit initiatives, school programs, and community gardens doing good work.

“Any time you’re converting forsaken lots into beautiful productive spaces it’s a good thing for the community,” Liebman says, adding, “And you’re producing food that stays in the Twin Cities.”


Source: Alex Liebman, Stone’s Throw Urban Farm
Writer: Anna Pratt

A building that sat vacant for 30 years is now home to the real estate-focused Libby Law Office and the SPARC community development agency.

Last week, the groups held an open house at the century-old building, which underwent a thorough rehabbing after the law firm bought the place from SPARC in June.

The community group had owned the building for five years, according to Kirsten Libby, the law firm's principal.

She says that while it would have cost less to tear down the building, she wanted to contribute to the ongoing revitalization of Rice Street.

The $500,000 rehab “brought value to the neighborhood," she says. 

The law firm, which is on the first floor, has a reception area, offices, a kitchenette, and a conference room, while SPARC fills the second floor.  

In the past, the 1888 building had been a Romanian rooming house and a mattress and a magnet factory.

The long, narrow building, which has two stories, was gutted and reframed, she says. “There were a lot of structural issues that were worse than what we thought at first,” Libby says.

The building's windows, roof, and mechanical systems were replaced, while the original brick façade was preserved. The building also has energy-efficient stucco siding on its exterior.  

Inside, rich earth tones run throughout, complementing the red exposed bricks. Hardwood floors, 20-foot-high ceilings, granite walls, and a hand-painted sign create the feeling of an old-fashioned Main-Street-type law office.

“We tried to keep the old look,” she says. “It’s warm and inviting, all the things we had in mind when we put it together.”  

Source: Kirsten Libby, Libby Law Office
Writer: Anna Pratt

The five-year-old Nicollet East Harriet Business Association is always looking for creative ways to connect the business nodes in Southwest Minneapolis.

Under the umbrella of Experience Southwest, this holiday season it’s embarking on an early phase of a $40,000 place-making endeavor, with a marketing campaign that steers people to neighborhood shops, according to Matt Perry, who leads the business association.

“I don’t think we have to encourage people to shop local; I think they already want to do that," he says. "People just need the tools to shop local and raise awareness about the business and services and products.”

Based on marketing research that the business association undertook, “We have a broad marketing plan to do a destination identity for the area that gives a name to a place.”

For starters, the group has put together a holiday campaign kit that includes related brochures and a map of the 400 storefronts in the neighborhood.

The materials also have QR codes that people can scan with their smartphones; they land at the project's website, which has information about store sales, special events, deals, and more.  

The branding components, unified with a logo “give a sense of place from the perspective of shopping,” Perry says.

He adds that the promotion speaks to the fact that in Southwest Minneapolis, “The shopping experience is a special one because service is exceptional. You have a personal relationship with the owner of a business.”

It’s also a resource for business owners who “want to feel a sense of camaraderie and a sense of being part of something bigger.”  

Further down the line, the campaign will help sustain businesses during a couple of upcoming construction projects that will detour traffic.   

The business nodes are an important part of the fabric of the area, Perry says. “[They make] it unique and a great place to live."


Source: Matt Perry, Nicollet East Harriet Business Association
Writer: Anna Pratt

Through a master planning process that it recently wrapped up, the Hampden Park Coop in St. Paul has identified short- and long-term remodeling priorities for the vintage building that it owns.

Coop member Paul Ormseth, an architect who is leading the process, says that several years ago the store expanded into a corner space in the building “with an eye to doing some planning about how to manage it into the future.”

Right now, the coop rents out part of the second-floor space to Oak Floor Dance Association, and there’s potential for more tenants.

“With a large space upstairs, the building can serve the community,” perhaps by accommodating public gatherings or various educational uses.

It’s something that any remodeling project should strengthen, Ormseth says.

Additionally, the building is well positioned to take advantage of traffic from the coming Central Corridor light rail transit line and right-of-way improvements planned for Raymond Avenue, he says.

In general “We want to do near-term remodeling that makes sense in a longer vision for the building,” and which will probably happen in a couple of phases.

For starters, the store needs more office and storage space.

The checkout stand could also be revamped, while the coop is also hoping to make the building more energy-efficient.  

For example, “We’re looking at bringing more daylight into the store to improve the feel of the store and reduce the need for lighting,” he says.  

Enhancing accessibility is another goal.

Whatever changes get made will be sensitive to the building's historic character. 

It goes to show, adds Ormseth, that “An old building is valuable because it can be adapted and it strengthens the community by retaining some existing historic fabric.”

At this early stage, the budget for the remodeling projects is still debatable. “The coop has been an asset for the neighborhood for a long time,” he says. “In buying the building, the coop made a commitment to improving the store, as well as keeping the existing building intact.”


Source: Paul Ormseth, Hampden Park Coop member
Writer: Anna Pratt

Ever since she read the book, “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure,” local librarian and writer Emily Lloyd has been enthralled with the idea of bringing the concept of miniature memoirs closer to home.

After trying it out at the library where she works, the idea of “6 Words Minneapolis” came to her.

It’s a public art project that gets Minneapolitans of all ages and walks of life “to tell their life stories–or something essential about who they are right now–in 6-word memoir form,” the website reads.

People can contribute to the project virtually or in person at a handful of places.

Right now, a mural of submissions is on exhibit at the Midtown Global Market, while the Blue Moon Coffee Café, 2nd Moon Coffee Café, Anodyne, and Seward Café are also featuring pieces of the project that invites audience interaction.  

Meanwhile, Lloyd is still looking for other neighborhood establishments, such as bookstores, salons, and hospitals, to “host” the project, either in mural form, or in a digital slideshow.

So far, over 500 people, including some area middle- and high-school students, have contributed writings that run the gamut from the funny to the poetic.   

Their scribblings are posted on Flickr, where they’re tagged by neighborhood and age.

“Knowing these are the memoirs of the people we pass on the Greenway or bump into at the library or while grocery shopping gives it a greater depth and resonance,” she says.

She plans to accept submissions through the spring and is considering compiling the work into a free e-book.

“I hope people stop, pause, think, and walk away filled with a deepened love and compassion for (or at least curiosity about) those they share space with, a neighborhood with, a city with.”

Source: Emily Lloyd, 6 Words Minneapolis
Writer: Anna Pratt

A new audio tour created jointly by Minnesota Public Radio and the city of Minneapolis, called Sound Points, allows listeners to go behind the scenes of 14 recently commissioned public artworks.

Anyone who happens upon the sites, which are indicated with signs, can access the tour around the clock, either by making a phone call or by scanning a QR code with their smartphone.  

The Line recently featured a similar audio tour of the Mississippi River, called Ranger on Call, here.

While the cell phone tour is modeled after similar museum tours, it takes advantage of readily available technology, MPR producer Jeff Jones explains.

There's no need to check out equipment or stick to visiting hours and the artworks can be enjoyed in any order.

“You can just stumble upon these things now,” he says. “That’s what’s taking the tour outside the walls [of the museum]. It lets people find them on their own.”

And, unlike a video or a brochure, it doesn’t substitute for the experience. “It’s meant to enhance the experience of place,” he says.  

Many of the Sound Points can be found near bus stops, making it convenient for those who are already lingering.

For example, one part of the tour features the “Blossoms of Hope” bus shelter that artist Majorie Pitz created in conjunction with Catalyst Community Partners.

She turned the busy bus shelter at Penn and Broadway avenues in North Minneapolis into an oversized vase of flowers, with colorful petals that look like sails.  

After the July tornado that hit North Minneapolis, Jones says, “It became a rallying point for the community,” with services, food, and other assistance being handed out there.

“It was literally a bright spot. It’s a playful piece of art that can be seen from a long way off," says Jones.

Another of his favorite Sound Points centers on an artistically designed water fountain at 21st and Lake Street, titled “3 Forms: The Lake Street Bubbler.”

Water is the fountain’s theme, embodied grotto-style, so that “there are lots of tiny hidden objects and forms throughout the piece."

It’s one of the most satisfying aspects of an audio tour--to learn something that not everyone is privy to, he says.  

To take things a step further, the tour encourages people to respond, either with questions or personal anecdotes, in writing or verbally. 

Other tour highlights include Wing Young Huie’s “Lake Street USA,” which is displayed at the city’s Public Service Center downtown, the 35W Bridge Remembrance Garden, by landscape architect Tom Oslund, and “Enjoyment of Nature,” on Third and Nicollet, by artist Kinji Akagawa. 


Source: Jeff Jones, Sound Point Producer, MPR
Writer: Anna Pratt

As a part of a recently announced federal plan, a handful of buildings at the Upper Post of Fort Snelling in Minneapolis will take on new life.

St. Paul’s CommonBond Communities is working with Sand Companies in St. Cloud on a $10.2 million project to redevelop the buildings into housing for homeless vets. 

It's one of 25 sites that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is reusing to create 3,000 units of permanent and transitional housing for veterans around the country, according to VA information.

Another 1,000 units could be announced by the VA in the coming weeks.

The Upper Post buildings, which have long stood vacant or served as storage space, will be turned into 58 apartments, including a mix of one-bedrooms, efficiencies, and three-bedroom units, according to Andew Michaelson, senior housing development manager for CommonBond.  

Buildings will be rehabbed according to historic guidelines, while a combination of historic and low-income tax credits will help fund the project, he says.

Further, all kinds of supportive services will be located on-site. “’[They will] address the needs of the population,” he says, adding that the aid is focused not just upon homelessness but “whatever else they’re going through.”   

In general, more needs to be done to eliminate homelessness among vets, he says.

He says that the project will also benefit the surrounding community by helping to preserve a significant landmark. “These buildings are in increasing states of deterioration. We want to prevent further deterioration.”  

The buildings have a lot of potential he says, and lately, there’s been “more interest in doing things on the campus with the resource of this existing stock of buildings.”

Although the project’s timeline depends on the condition of the buildings, he says that construction could start as early as the end of 2012.

Source: Andrew Michaelson, senior housing development manager, CommonBond Communities
Writer: Anna Pratt

As it approaches its 125th anniversary, the state’s oldest theater, CSPS Sokol Hall, is about to become usable year-round.

Sokol is a fitness organization that was originally founded in the Czech Republic, according to Joe Landsberger, who is a spokesperson for the hall.

He explains that the CSPS Sokol hall, which is run by the volunteer-driven Czech Slovak Sokol Minnesota, goes beyond that by offering everything from ethnic dinners to folk dancing.

The hall will soon be getting air-conditioning for its second-floor auditorium, thanks to an $80,000 grant from Partners in Preservation, a joint program of American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Partners in Preservation recently announced the results of a local competition to dole out $1 million to metro area preservation projects.

The cash infusion will be instrumental in doing more at the hall. “Our building was vacant in the summer because it got too hot,” says Landsberger. “This will enable us to expand programs into the summer months.”

The group of volunteers that runs the hall has been proactive in recent years in bringing the building up to current code standards.

It's all part of a long-range plan for the building, which has been undergoing incremental improvements for decades.

In the 1970s, the three-story commercial building was scheduled to be demolished, but the neighborhood and Sokol joined forces to get it historically designated.

Since then, Sokol has worked to raise funds for design work, heating and plumbing upgrades, a fire-protection sprinkler system, asbestos removal, floor repair, basement moisture remediation, and more, according to its website.

Because of the building’s historic status, “Everything has to fit without compromising the structure,” Landsberger says.

The work is necessary to “ensure the building has another 125 years of useful life with current standards,” he says.

Once the renovations are made, “We’ll put more energy into the programming side.”  


Source: Joe Landsberger, CSPS Sokol Hall
Writer: Anna Pratt

Lehman’s Garage, which has been a fixture in South Minneapolis since 1917, is reopening on 54th and Lyndale this week with a new, bigger facility.

Over the summer, its old building was torn down to make way for a longer and narrower 20,000-square-foot facility that’s more environmentally sound, according to project information.

During construction, work at the shop went on, with technicians repairing vehicles from the company’s five other locations.

The state-of-the-art auto body, mechanical, and glass repair shop, which has one level, includes a storefront entrance and windows that overlook the street.

Shannon Rusk, vice-president for development at Oppidan Investment Company, which led the project, explains that energy-efficiency was a top priority.

The company accomplished that with high-efficiency heating and cooling units on the rooftop, along with operable windows that can be adjusted to allow for air-flow and temperature control, she says.  

The building envelope and windows are also energy-efficient, while a rain garden behind the building helps manage stormwater, she says.

Inside its new home are such amenities as a customer lounge and wireless Internet access, state-of-the-art paint booths, employee break areas, and new garage lifts.

“It’s a huge improvement from what was there. It’s a beautiful building,” she says, adding, “It’s a nice, clean, classic design that doesn’t look like a [typical] body shop."

The paints the garage is using are water-based, which is also a green element, she says.

From the beginning, the neighborhood has been supportive of the project. When the proposal reached city officials earlier on, “We didn’t have one issue,” she says. “It’s something that the community wanted."

Source: Shannon Rusk, Oppidan Investment Company
Writer: Anna Pratt

In planning for a new venue, the local, fringe-like Bedlam Theatre wants to create "a hub of wild performance and community creativity," its website says.
 
Its previous home in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, where it was located from 2006 to 2010, had a mainstage with many shows turning over daily, plus a bar and restaurant.

John Bueche, an artistic director for the company, says, "We're looking to build on the social atmosphere of the last space," adding, "Hanging out is the aesthetic."

Bedlam also wants to bring back the studio quality of the space on Cedar Avenue where it started out 15 years ago. In that venue installations could be done so that "The whole space becomes the world of the play."

"We're looking at a place where we can do both," in Minneapolis and St. Paul, he says, adding, "It's quite possible we won't limit ourselves to one space."

Depending on what route the theater takes, its new digs could run anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to $5 million.
 
The theater is using the Nov. 16 Give to the Max Day, which aims to build support for charitable causes, as an opportunity to talk about the plans that are taking shape.
 
The day's related activities include a study hour, a bike parade, lunch with the Minnesota Theatre Alliance, an art talk, performance art, parties, and live streaming of the events online.  
 
Bueche says that the theater will make some major decisions about where it's headed within nine months. "It's different than what we've done before," he says. "We're excited to get a chance to put some of these visions into practice."
 
Source: John Bueche, artistic director, Bedlam Theatre
Writer: Anna Pratt

Metropolitan State University is working with the local architecture firm BWBR to design a new $25 million science center for its St. Paul campus.

The 59,000-square-foot facility includes laboratories, lecture and demonstration classrooms, seminar rooms, offices, and support spaces--all in one place, according to BWBR information.

Beyond its biology and life science tracks, the school will be able to add chemistry and physics minors along with earth, space, and environment courses.
 
John Strachota, a vice president at BWBR who is a principal on the project, says that the school's existing science facilities are limiting.

Right now, the school has to "triple up students and it has to schedule things so everyone gets a chance. It's hard to deliver their programs that way because there are so few resources."

Although the design is still coming together, he says he envisions an open, flexible style of lab design that brings together experimentation and discussion.

On a broader level, one goal of the project is to design the center so that "The moment you see the building, it will express and teach science."

Passersby might be able to catch a glimpse of what's happening inside the labs through windows, while technological tools could display the building's real-time energy use.

The building will also have gathering spaces for students to continue learning in informal ways.

Metropolitan State wants to pursue a high level of LEED certification, which recognizes green building accomplishments.  

At this time, the school hopes to open the center in the summer of 2014.

Source: John Strachota, AIA, LEED AP, vice president, BWBR
Writer: Anna Pratt