The new E. Lake Street

by Tesha M. Christensen

Lake St. between the river and Hiawatha is no longer the vacant space people drive through on their way to the busier sections west of Hiawatha.

Instead, it is coming back to life, filling up with innovative new restaurants and businesses.

In the past few months, two new restaurants have opened their doors on Lake Street: Parka Restaurant at 4023 E, Lake St. and Zeke’s Unchained Animal at 3508 E. Lake St. Forage Modern Workshop has opened next to Parka in the former carpenters’ union building.

The redevelopment will continue with a new grocery store at 3815 E. Lake St. and two new tenants at the former Molly Quinn’s building.

Plus, the installation of artwork on utility boxes along Lake St. has brought the creativity of the area up a notch.

“Let’s be honest, 10 years ago East Lake was a bit of a dump,” remarked Kris Kiel of HOLOS Creative.

Today, the energy on E. Lake St. helped Longfellow earn one of City Pages Highest Distinctions: 2013 Best Neighborhood.

ART ON THE STREET

The utility box art installation along E. Lake St. features 20 local artists on 10 utility boxes, all members of the League of Longfellow Artists (LoLa), which helped coordinate the project with the Longfellow Community Council (LCC).

 “I believe there are double benefits to the art on utility boxes: it takes what can be an eyesore and makes it visually interesting,” said Longfellow artist Bob Schmitt of Laughing Waters Studio. “But also it is featuring not just the work of artists, but the work of artist who live/work in this particular Minneapolis neighborhood.”

 The primary goal of the project, according to Spencer Agnew of LCC, is to prevent and reduce graffiti. “Utility boxes in their natural state are a blank canvas for graffiti and are frequently tagged. Other neighborhoods, like Kingfield, have had success preventing graffiti by installing public art,” he observed.

The utility box project was funded by a grant from the city of Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling Division through the Innovative Graffiti Prevention program.

TRANSFORMATIVE WORK

For several years now, East Lake Street has been struggling. Redevelopment on E. Lake St. in the 1960s and 70s replaced much of the traditional retail storefronts with auto-oriented designs. That, coupled with lingering effects from the 2006-08 reconstruction project and the economic downturn, left the street inactive. There have been more commercial vacancies on this portion of Lake Street than the rest of the Street from Hiawatha to Lake Calhoun combined, according to Redesign.

“Vacancy levels lead to blight and disinvestment. People feel like their neighborhood is not being taken care of,” noted Eddie Landenberger of Redesign, who has been helping to change that trend and fill empty buildings.

“It’s transformative work,” stated Landenberger.

Most recently, Redesign has focused on the vacant Molly Quinn building at 3300 E. Lake St. A collapsed foundation had doomed the property to vacancy since 2008. There wasn’t a bank that would provide capital until Redesign stepped in and cleaned up the messy issues. “It was one of those impossible buildings,” remarked Landenberger.

By fall, there will be two new tenants at 3300 E. Lake.

The former Peterson Machinery site is also undergoing a $4.5 million transformation. A few buildings will be razed and the Peterson structure renovated to house a grocery store with character.  Owner Joel Ahlstrom envisions a store that will resemble the one his grandfather once ran years ago at 2700 17th Ave. S.

LIVE LOCAL, SHOP LOCAL, HELP YOR NEIGHBORS

The E. Lake St. area has had the dubious distinction of having one of the highest vacancy rates in the city of Minneapolis, noted Scott Cramer of Northern Sun (2916 E. Lake St.).

He has seen recovery start at the Lake and 27th triangle and spread out from there.

Even at its worst, E. Lake St. was supported by a wonderful community that believed in living local, shopping local, and helping your neighbors, noted Kiel.

“Independently-owned businesses like The Craftsman, Harriet Brewing, Gandhi Mahal, and Miller Upholstering recognized something special about the area and chose to open shop here,” said Kiel. “Midori’s, El Norteno, and others stuck around through the challenging road construction and the community supports them.”

Gandhi Mahal’s owner Ruhel Islam is a prime example of a business owner focused on helping his community. Local non-profit organizations are welcome to use a community room in the restaurant free of charge, and he regularly donates food to various worthy causes.

This year, he is embarking on a project to provide his restaurant with vegetables grown from local garden plots, tilapia farmed in the Gandhi Mahal basement, and honey from rooftop hives. Islam hopes to offer a complete economic model for others.

“Teamwork makes this possible,” stressed Islam. (See related story on page ??)

Northern Sun is also leading by example. The first solar garden in Minneapolis will soon be installed on its rooftop. It will have the capacity to produce 40 kilowatts of clean, solar energy—enough to power 8-10 homes.

“There are wonderfully creative businesses opening up all the time that draw people from all over the city – Harriet Brewing, Trylon Microcinema, Peace Coffee, Gandhi Mahal, The Craftsman, Longfellow Grill, Prairie Woodworking, Merlin’s Rest, and the list goes on and on,” said Kiel.

The irony, according to Kiel, is that the residents haven’t changed much over the past 10 years. “We’ve always know this was a great place to be!” said Kiel. “The biggest change is that the secret is getting out and more people are choosing to live in this area.”

“I see younger folks moving in and asking for amenities they’re used to going to malls for and wanting them in their neighborhood,” said  Landenberger. They want variety and choice, he added.

“Lake Street is a destination location and a awesome commercial corridor to frequent,” stated ZoeAna Martinez of the Lake Street Council.