Strong Local Economy : Development News

Parka, a new café that opened on January 23 on East Lake Street and 40th Avenue South in Minneapolis, has already generated a buzz.

Victory 44 chef Erick Harcey joined forces with Dogwood Coffee and Rustica Bakery to open the restaurant, which shares space with Forage Modern Workshop, a furniture and home goods store.

Spencer Agnew, who works for the Longfellow Community Council, says the neighborhood welcomes the new business. "People are very excited about Forage Modern Workshop and Parka because of the creative energy they are bringing to East Lake Street," he says, adding, "We are thrilled to see entrepreneurs renovate and bring new life to retail spaces" in this area of Longfellow.

The place carries on the design aesthetic of Forage, which features local designers, with clean, spare lines, big wooden booths, and funky artwork.

The result is "a loving tribute to Minnesota and the far North, with its wooden deer-head wall hangings, the ceramic white squirrel perched on the countertop, and the elaborate Bear Fox Chalk rendition of a 1928 portrait of a bundled-up Inuit family," a story in the Longfellow Nokomis Messenger reads.

“The challenge, but also the most exciting part of this project was to create a space that both Forage Modern Workshop and Parka felt was seamless but was very functional,” the restaurant’s Facebook page states.  

Turning around the old carpenter’s union hall involved getting rid of cubicles, partition walls and a dropped ceiling, “to expose the beautiful mid-century industrial architecture,” it adds.

Parka also features some items that the next-door shop sells.

The café, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, has a casual yet upscale feel, the Heavy Table blog notes.

It’s part of a new foodie trend in the neighborhood, emphasizing artisan-quality, locally-sourced fare that Heavy Table says started with Peace Coffee shop in 2010 and has continued since then with Harriet Brewing, Mosaic Café, the Minneapolis location of The Blue Door Pub, and Parka.   


Source: Spencer Agnew, Longfellow Community Council
Writer: Anna Pratt

In its latest show, a long-running theater troupe at Pillsbury House + Theatre in South Minneapolis called Breaking Ice is tackling big questions about community development in the area.

The show, which runs through February 26, responds to comments that come up in all types of community forums, online and in person, according to Alan Berks, a spokesperson for the theater company.     

Through its performance and a facilitated conversation that follows, Breaking Ice explores questions relating to a major question: “How can neighborhoods evolve in economically stable and sustainable ways?” according to event materials.

This show is part of the Arts on Chicago placemaking initiative, which includes 20 art happenings. Pillsbury House + Theatre is leading the charge with the help of a number of community partners. (See The Line story about the project here.) 

Often, the improvisational-style troupe performs for companies that are having difficulties in the workplace with communication--difficulties that frequently are rooted in cultural conflicts.

“What we get from it is a multifaceted perspective on the issue, with lots of people’s points of view,” Berks says, adding, “It starts to create a more direct conversation about the issues.”

Basically, it breaks the ice on these tough topics, hence the group’s name, he says.

The show delves into thorny questions related to community development, gentrification, and the displacement of longtime residents, questions that touch on race, economics, and culture. “There’s some tension among different sectors of the neighborhood," he says.

The company addresses these issues in a personal way, “from the perspective of people in the neighborhood,” he says, adding, “It’s about showing the human effects, what people are experiencing.”
The idea is to “create more conversations among communities in the neighborhood.”  

At different times in history, the neighborhood has seen a large concentration of Scandinavians, African Americans, and Latinos. Historically, a lot of people have moved through, Berks says, adding, “It’s one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the state.”

Despite the culture shock that often entails, the neighborhood seems to “have a lot of ability to embrace differences,” he says, adding, “I think a high concentration of artists helps.” Artists are social connectors who help bridge the gap, he says.

Source: Alan Berks, spokesperson, Pillsbury House Theatre
Writer: Anna Pratt

A two-mile swath of Hennepin Avenue that runs through downtown Minneapolis is becoming a cultural district.

On Friday, the City Council approved a plan that lays out a vision for the cultural district, with specific goals for the next decade. The planning document came together through a yearlong process called Plan-It Hennepin, which was a collaboration of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, which owns four area theaters, the Walker Art Center, the artist-minded developer, Artspace, and the city.

Plan-It Hennepin drew over 1,500 people to its workshops and meetings, according to project information.  

An “Our Town” creative placemaking grant in 2011 from the National Endowment for the Arts helped make it happen.

Tom Hoch, the president and CEO of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, says it was a robust process. “We’re really trying to think of Hennepin for the next generation,” a younger, more diverse group coming up, he says.

The partners will form a Cultural District Alliance to carry out the multilayered plan, which aims to make the avenue green, creative, safe, and pedestrian-friendly. This will contribute to the Minneapolis Downtown Council’s 2025 Plan, as well.

Basically, the plan centers on how “Arts and culture are playing a role in the connective tissue up and down the avenue,” he says.  

For example, walking from the Walker Art Center to the Mississippi River, “You could have a series of wonderful experiences,” he says.

The alliance hopes to expand on that with greater coordination and consistent branding. “We want to have people come to the cultural district, love it and not want to leave,” Hoch says.

Part of the plan is already underway. A storefront project called “Made Here,” is in the works in the former Witt Mitchell building at 7th and Hennepin. It features work from local artists who design furniture. “The idea is to use storefronts that may be in transition and to showcase Minnesota artists,” he says.

Already he's found that many people have "an affinity for the street," he says, adding, “We have a lot of positive momentum behind what we’re doing here."

Source: Tom Hoch, CEO and president, Hennepin Theatre Trust
Writer: Anna Pratt  

A large mural composed of 600,000 multicolored Lite-Brite pegs will light up St. Paul’s Union Depot on Saturday.  

The 12-foot-by-24-foot mural, designed by local artist Ta-coumba T. Aiken, will set the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Picture Made of Lite-Brite,” according to Laura Mylan, project manager for the Forever Saint Paul Challenge. It’s the number of pegs that go into a mural, not its physical dimensions, which determine the size, she explains.

The record Lite-Brite mural at this time has 513,000 pegs, so the St. Paul mural will “easily defeat the record and set a new one,” she says.

The project jumpstarts the Forever Saint Paul Challenge, a contest sponsored by The Saint Paul Foundation and Minnesota Idea Open, to draw out original ideas for improving St. Paul.   

On Saturday, the festivities begin at 3 p.m. with live music, oversized board games, food and more, while the lighting ceremony will happen at 7 p.m.

“We’re doing this to inspire big, bold creative ideas for the future,” Mylan says, adding, “We want ideas from everyone, from all walks of life, from across the state. What better way to do that than to create a big, bright public art installation that is truly of the community?”

In keeping with that, the abstract mural has the words “Forever Saint Paul” embedded in it.

Already, hundreds of volunteers have turned out to lend a hand on the mural. “It inspires people. It makes them smile,” she says, adding that most volunteers have found out about the project through social media and word of mouth.

The idea is to engage people in a creative process from the get-go, she says.

Since Jan. 12, people have helped hand-sort the pegs by color and started filling in the giant frame. “We’ve been so thrilled by the volunteer involvement. It’s been amazing.”

It made sense to hire the internationally known Aiken to design the mural because “He happens to work with points of color,” she says. He’s also accustomed to doing large-scale public artworks to which “He brings a great, welcoming presence,” she says.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Carleen Rhodes, the president and CEO of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, and a Guinness World Record judge will all be on hand at the event.

The mural will be displayed at the depot through the end of the month.

“It has created a great community spirit and people are having so much fun with it,” she says.

Source: Laura Mylan, project manager, Forever Saint Paul Challenge
Writer: Anna Pratt

Gastrotruck, a food truck that specializes in “artisanal street cuisine,” is expanding with a straight-up restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis. Its brick-and-mortar counterpart will go by another name, though that hasn’t been publicized yet, according to City Pages.  
 
The food truck will continue to circulate between Minneapolis and St. Paul in the warmer months.

Catherine Eckert, who owns the food truck, describes the changes that are underway at the building it purchased at 2400 University Avenue N.E. as a “complete property renovation.” In general, sustainability is a guiding principal for the restaurant, both in terms of construction and its offerings.   

For starters, the restaurant is going for LEED certification, which has benchmarks for green building, the City Pages story reads.

Also, Gastrotruck intends to grow as much as half of its food on the restaurant’s grounds. This will happen in part through vertical grow walls, a green roof and a greenhouse, the story adds. Recycled water runoff will play into that system.

In terms of the restaurant’s interior look, “I am striving for a farmhouse chic feel,” Eckert says.This dovetails with the food truck’s emphasis on products from local farms and companies and handcrafted ingredients.  

Gastrotruck, which plans to open the restaurant in the fall, is “all about respecting food and the environment in which it comes from,” its website states. Eckert has high hopes that the restaurant will fill a unique niche in the neighborhood: “We are super excited to offer our neighbors a restaurant that serves sustainable modern Midwestern cuisine that is approachable and affordable,” she says.  

Source: Catherine Eckert, owner, Gastrotruck
Writer: Anna Pratt

 Groundswell Coffee in St. Paul is looking to create a groundswell of ideas.

Its co-owners, Seth McCoy and Tim Gilbert, want to get the community involved in the coffee shop’s expansion.

McCoy and Gilbert, who bought the neighborhood cafe in 2009, have been able to make the business break even, but in the economic downturn, “It’s been limping along,” McCoy says.  

To turn it around, they've tried to restore “the feeling of a neighborhood place," which it had when it first opened. But their efforts thus far "have not been enough,” he says.

After giving it some serious thought, “We agreed that being on that corner was important and we needed to find ways to accentuate that,” he says. That, they knew, would take some creative problem solving.

That’s when they learned that the next-door Borealis Yarn shop was closing. They got the idea to take over the space to create a full-service kitchen, beer and wine bar, along with an art consignment shop. Today they’re trying to secure financing for the $150,000 project.

To raise up to half of that, they’re looking at crowdfunding or community-based capital.

Crowdfunding allows community members to purchase a small stake in the company, he explains. At Northbound Smokehouse in Minneapolis, for example, “At a certain investment level, people could get free beer for life,” he says.

Similarly, Groundswell wants to offer a founders’ club membership for $1,000 apiece. A founding member could then get a free drink every day, he says.  

In line with the owners' community values, the place will serve locally sourced food and drink and highlight artists and musicians from the area. “The Twin Cities has a vibrant local economy and we want to tap into that wherever we can,” McCoy says.

With the coming Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line, and in the absence of many commercial buildings of this sort in the neighborhood, “We hope to be a place where neighbors can get together,” one that’s also family-friendly, he says.

Groundswell plans to have a grand opening in May.


Source: Seth McCoy, co-owner, Groundswell Coffee  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Handsome Cycles, a Minneapolis-based bicycle manufacturer founded in 2008, has long had a national presence, with merchandise in 53 retail stores throughout the country.

The online business found its first dealers in the city, with One on One Bicycle Studio and Go Coffee and The Alt bicycle shop, according to Handsome co-owner, Jesse Erickson.

At the same time, “We always wanted a retail space” close to home, so when the storefront space beside One on One opened up, Erickson and his partner, Ben Morrison, jumped at it.

“We saw the opportunity to partner with someone who knows cycling culture and what’s needed on the clothing side,” Erickson says.  

Previously, a music store occupied the space.

Erickson and Morrison tore down a wall between the two spaces, both of which are roughly 2,500 square feet, so that customers can go back and forth freely between the shops. “Our side will be more of a lifestyle store in the front half,” while the back area will serve as a showroom and build studio for Handsome’s custom-built bikes.

Beyond that, the Handsome space required little buildout, he says.

In terms of aesthetics, the space boasts exposed brick, hardwood floors, and wide open spaces.

He and Morrison are creating a modular setup that can be rearranged for different purposes. All in all, the place will have an industrial look “that’s raw and clean.” To achieve that, “We’re using a lot of reclaimed stuff,” especially wood from demolished barns and abandoned buildings, while metal piping runs throughout, he says.

Handsome will collaborate with One on One in hosting art shows, film festivals, and other events. “One on One has done a good job,” on this front, he says, adding, “It’s not just a bike retail store. It’s also a destination for the cycling culture.”

The store plans to open in March.

Source: Jesse Erickson, co-owner, Handsome Cycles
Writer: Anna Pratt 

The St. Paul site where the Margaret Recreation Center once stood is now a pile of rubble. But many community members who live or work close to the center are optimistic about the site’s future.

Brad Meyer, a spokesperson for the city’s parks and recreation department, says, “Margaret is one of those unique sites that has a very active immediate neighborhood surrounding it.” That being said, the center “hasn’t received a lot of use beyond its tot-lot for many years.”

It probably didn't help that the building was in bad shape. A system-wide parks planning process, which the department undertook last fall, found that if the building’s partner left, it would need to be torn down. In this case, a partnership with the Hmong Youth Education Services didn’t work out.

Because resources are limited, a timeline for redevelopment at the site is yet to be determined. “At the very least, the site will receive new grass immediately this spring and access to the popular play area/tot lot will continue,” he says.

Part of the site could stay open for athletics while renovations are underway. “We are very optimistic we can find a solution that the neighborhood will be happy with, and are looking forward to working with them as part of the next steps for the site,” he says.

A group called the Stewards of Margaret Park (STOMP) is getting organized to help guide the site’s redevelopment. The preliminary plan calls for a walking path, ice skating rink, grading of the park’s hill for sledding, bathrooms, picnic pavilions, and a basketball court, according to a story from Lillie News.  

Also, a sort of “truck stop” might be set up to park and host mobile programs like the Artmobile or Bookmobile, the story states.

Source: Brad Meyer, spokesperson, St. Paul Parks and Recreation
Writer: Anna Pratt

Honeyshine, a gift and home décor store that also offers interior design services, is growing. 

As such, the shop, which opened in Minneapolis's Bryn Mawr neighborhood in 2011, plans to move to 2720 W. 43rd Street. Honeyshine will take the spot of a longtime yarn shop, next-door to the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Linden Hills, according to Adam Braun, who co-owns the shop with Daisy Mitchell.  

The store, which sells decorative accessories, tabletop entertaining items, jewelry, furniture, art, vintage items, and more, aims to open on May 8. 

Fortunately, the space won’t require too much of a makeover, according to Braun. Mainly, Braun and Mitchell will be redoing the floors and the lighting. “We’re going for something warmer,” he says.  

Besides offering more room for the business, this is a “proven retail space,” close to a number of restaurants and shops. That’s a boon for the growing Honeyshine. “Linden Hills will do a tremendous amount for our business, being an area with so many great restaurants and stores,” he says. “Having that much foot traffic will be great.”

The aesthetic of the new space, however, will stay the same. Braun describes the place as having a “modern scrappy feel, with clean lines and a lot of different cool objects,” he says. “It’s a mixture of new or modern with vintage things that we find.”

In terms of the design services, the space “is a good example of what we offer and the creativity behind our store.”
 
With so much to look at, “A lot of people come back to soak in everything,” he says.  

That relates to the whole idea behind the shop. “We’re always trying to offer things that you can’t find anywhere else in Minneapolis,” he says.


Source: Adam Braun, co-owner, Honeyshine
Writer: Anna Pratt

Al’s Bar, a half-century-old bar in St. Louis Park that was demolished in 2009 to make way for a housing development, inspired ProjectAl.

The charitable T-shirt business, which is run out of the basement of co-owner Charley Holden’s home, launched in November 2012.   

Holden and his business partner, Derek Hood, who had been regulars at the bar, saw how Al’s gave money to local sports teams, National Night Out, and many other community-oriented events and initiatives. “It had a strong sense of community,” he says.

On a more informal level, many of its regulars knew one another. “They liked the history the place had,” he says. It was frustrating for people “to see their favorite neighborhood establishment, which had been around longer than they had, go.” Its demolishing was a community event. “A lot of regulars loved going there,” Holden says.

When the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis closed, it was the same story, he adds.  

Holden and Hood wanted to create a project that would speak to those sentiments. “We want to give back to the community,” Holden says. “We thought that going through charities and local artists would be a great way to do it as well.” Proceeds of shirt sales go to the businesses represented on the shirts, to the artists who design them, and to a charity of the buyer's choice.

Holden rescued the old sign that once hung above Al’s, and employed it as a motif for the company. Whenever friends see it, the expressions on their faces are priceless, he says, adding, “Many remember it and still talk about it.”

“We want to draw attention to and celebrate local landmarks and businesses and recognize the importance those places have to our neighborhoods,” he says. “We want to keep them in our neighborhoods.”

Already, the business has gotten plenty of positive feedback. The company has even received random orders from people outside of Minnesota. “I’m assuming these are from people who have emotional ties to those places. It’s their way of representing them,” he says. “That’s what we get excited about.”

Source: Charley Holden
Writer: Anna Pratt

180 Degrees, Inc., in St. Paul, which has a mission to turn lives around, has big plans to establish a youth development campus on East Seventh Street.    

To pull it off, the organization is trying to raise $2.8 million. It invested $1 million into acquiring the W.B. Martin Lumber Company site in 2011, developing a parking lot and converting one building into space for offices and programming, according to Richard Gardell, the president and CEO of 180 Degrees.

The 1.5-acre lumberyard, which dates back to the early 1900s, had been pretty rundown, and it was vacant for several years, he says.  

Where there were “quite a bit of old buildings and dilapidation, we saw a vision for a youth development campus,” he says. The organization had outgrown its former site on the East Side at that point.

To carry out the plan, the organization needs to remove a building, once a barbershop, on Seventh to make way for a youth crisis center. The new building will be in keeping with the area’s architectural style, Gardell says.

A pole barn on the site will stay intact for recreational purposes while another building will provide for various entrepreneurial activities for youth, including several related to construction trades.  

180 Degrees also plans to turn the old English Street, a dirt road, into green space, with community gardens, to connect the properties on the site.  

The organization is working with neighbors to “make sure to address concerns related to access on Seventh Street,” he says. “We hope it’s a win-win,” especially as that relates to improving the lot’s appearance.

The green space will help reduce dust and traffic and improve the quality of life in the area. “We’re planning on the community garden being a space to gather and grow together,” Gardell says, adding, “We hope the rest of campus provides services to neighbors” and the larger community.

The organization hopes to break ground in the spring, he says.

Source: Richard Gardell, 180 Degrees
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, the local Dogwood Coffee Company will be able to see the results of its $10,000 fundraising campaign for a water well in the impoverished Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia.

Dogwood, which began raising money for the water well in November, met its goal on Dec. 31, with the help of customers and employees.

The coffee company, which has a coffee bar in Southwest Minneapolis, took on the project through Charity Water, a New York nonprofit organization that funds clean water projects in developing countries.

The well will deliver clean water to 500 people for 20 years, according to Greg Hoyt, a co-owner of the coffee company. “It’s a significant project,” he says, adding, “It takes a year to build and train people how to use the well.”

Although the company typically gives 1 percent of its annual gross revenue to charity, “This was the biggest push,” he says. “It was the first time we decided to get other people involved, so we could do even more than what Dogwood generates.”

That dollar figure is also well above its typical goal of $6,000, he explains.

“It had such a great response we want to do it again this year,” he says. “It was word-of-mouth that helped.”

Originally, Dogwood asked to support a project in the region where it sources its beans. This turned out to be a humbling experience in that the charity involved turned them down, saying funds go to areas with the greatest need. “It was a good gut-check for us,” he says. “However well-intended our giving might be, it wasn’t up to us to decide where the need is.”

Still, the coffee company was able to make an impact in a country where many of its beans come from.  
Dogwood chose to hone in on this issue in part because coffee is 98 percent water. “We obsess about so many aspects of the coffee roast and preparation,” he says. “We need to be that geeky about water. It’s a key element and it’s so elusive in the countries that we buy coffee from.”

This is also a social justice issue. “It’s incredibly tragic that for many, clean water is a luxury,” he says.

With GPS technology, Dogwood will soon be able to see footage of the well in action.

“We didn’t know what would happen. We figured we would do the best we could,” he says. “We were really thrilled people joined us in this.”

Source: Greg Hoyt, co-owner, Dogwood Coffee
Writer: Anna Pratt

The District 12 Community Council in St. Paul is looking to join the international Transition Town movement to “rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.”

As a starting point, the council is hosting a community meeting on Jan. 17 at the St. Anthony Park United Methodist Church, to discuss ways the community is already responding to this challenge.

Tim Wulling, a member of the council’s Environment Committee, which is heading this effort, says, “We want to pull people together to share what’s happening, to be inspired by each other.”

For those who want to learn more about the topic beforehand, the group’s energy resilience subcommittee will also be screening a movie titled “In Transition 2.0” on Jan. 9 at the Joy of the People Center and on Jan. 12 at the St. Anthony Park Branch Library.

The movie tells about what other Transition Towns around the world are doing to make a difference in this area.

It comes down to the fact that “The human species lives too large on earth, creating climate and environment disruption,” Wulling says, adding, “It’s a real concern for our children and grandchildren.”

That’s what motivated the District 12 Community Council's Environment Committee and its energy resilience subcommittee to tackle the problem.

The Transition Town movement, which originated in the U.K. a handful of years ago, emphasizes that problem solving should happen at the local level, he says. Today, the movement is at work in at least 400 communities around the world.

To help build awareness around the issues in St. Anthony Park, related movie screenings, speakers, and meetings will be planned throughout the year, he says. Later on, if the neighborhood group formally joins the Transition network, it will need to come up with a plan for reducing energy use and CO2 emissions, to be vetted by the network.

The initiative also poses big questions such as “Is there another way of living that would be better?” and “Where will we be in 20 or 30 years from now? What life do we want?”

In St. Anthony Park, “We’re fortunate here to have a community feeling,” Wulling says. “It’s a well-knit area. That’s the key. We want to build on that.”

Source: Tim Wulling, St. Anthony Park Community Council committee member
Writer: Anna Pratt

Smoke in the Pit, a smoked barbecue restaurant, is coming to a building on 38th and Chicago in South Minneapolis that long ago housed the House of Breakfast.

Smoke in the Pit owner Dwight Alexander says he has already built up a clientele for the food at the restaurant’s former location on East Lake Street.

For a couple of years, it offered his specially prepared smoked meats. “No flame hits the meat. It’s pure smoke,” making it healthier than straight-up barbecue, he explains.

To make way for the family-owned business, Alexander is revamping the place, which had to be completely gutted. Right now, construction is still underway, with everything from sheetrock to kitchen equipment being installed. However, the place is shaping up on schedule, even if the space looks a bit raw right now, he says.   

Alexander, who lives nearby, aims to open the restaurant by the end of the month or in early February.
He’s done some street vending outside of the restaurant, to let people know that Smoke in the Pit is on the way.  

The restaurateur sees the place as a positive addition to an area of the neighborhood that’s undergoing revitalization in many ways. Smoke in the Pit is across the street from a redevelopment that includes the Blue Ox Coffee Company, Covet Consign and Design, photographer Wing Young Huie’s The Third Place Gallery, and the Fox Egg Gallery.   

Plus, it offers a place to eat in area that has been known as a food desert. “I already know this will be a big improvement to the area,” he says.

Alexander expects the restaurant to draw people from outside of the neighborhood, as well, especially those who are already familiar with Smoke in the Pit.

Source: Dwight Alexander, owner, Smoke in the Pit
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Northeast Investment Cooperative (NEIC) is making headway toward its goal of revitalizing properties on Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis.

NEIC is a for-profit cooperative that lets community members “pool their resources and collectively buy, rehab and manage commercial and residential property in the neighborhood,” a prepared statement from NEIC reads. See the earlier story from The Line here.

On Dec. 14, the group announced it had signed a purchase agreement for a property that includes two buildings at 2504 and 2506 Central Avenue Northeast.

NEIC, which has over 90 members that have invested $1,000 apiece in the coop, hopes to raise $300,000 by February 28 to pursue the project.

One of the group’s partners, the Recovery Bike Shop, will go into the 2504 building, according to NEIC board member Chris Bubser.   

This is good news because “It’ll really give people who are thinking of joining or who are on the fence a real reason to take the next step,” he says.  

For the 2506 building, which NEIC will renovate and lease, the group is hoping to attract multiple tenants.

To that end, NEIC is looking for “proven business, aspiring entrepreneurs with a good plan, or a combination” of those to fill the space, according to NEIC information.

The projects will bring in more than a half million dollars in new investment to a highly visible intersection on Central, according to NEIC information.   

The goals are ambitious, but it seems doable. “Over the last few days, the response has been incredible,” Bubser says. “I think it’s going to work.”

If all goes as planned, construction could start as early as spring of 2013, he says.

As one of the first commercial real estate cooperatives in North America, “We’re pioneers in the area,” he says. “We’re excited to take one of the biggest properties and show how a committed group from the neighborhood can turn it around.”   

He hopes the project will help make Central Avenue a destination, not just a thoroughfare. In contrast to traditional real estate corporations, which are geared around profitability, “We’re about community building and support.”  

Source: Chris Bubser, NEIC board member
Writer: Anna Pratt