Future of Midtown Farmer’s Market looking brighter

Weigh in on plan for 2225 E. Lake St. at public meeting on April 3

by Tesha M. Christensen

Hennepin County is proceeding ahead with development plans that will not only save the Midtown Farmer’s Market but will also revitalize the southwest corner of Hiawatha and Lake.

“A big impetus for our promotion of redevelopment at this location is to build safer streets, safer transit stops, and pedestrian-friendly retail destinations,” remarked Corcoran Neighborhood Organization (CNO) Executive Director Eric Gustafson.

“It is well-established that the environment around Lake St. and Hiawatha Ave. is hostile to pedestrians, including high school students and other transit riders,” he observed. With large surface parking lots and a highway overpass around Lake Street light rail transit (LRT) station, it is an environment that discourages walking and other active transportation choices.

At an April 2013 meeting at South High, several students reported walking to the 38th Street LRT station (almost 1 additional mile) to avoid the walk to the Lake Street LRT station, according to Gustafson. In 2013, police figures show that Lake Street transit stops and the pedestrian pathways to and from those stops had the highest crime rates in the Corcoran neighborhood -- especially on blocks where people say it feels empty, and unsupervised, and poorly lit.

The Corcoran neighborhood presently contains over 20 vacant retail spaces, further exacerbating these problems.

“Yet the Lake Street station is the third busiest LRT Station on the Blue Line, and students of nearby South High increasingly depend on the station and Lake Street bus stops following the recent elimination of school district busing service,” said Gustafson.

“Redevelopment would transform this environment.”

COUNTY - NOT SCHOOL - TO ANCHOR SITE

The current multi-phase plan to redevelop the 6.4-acre property at 2225 E. Lake St. would be anchored by a Hennepin County Family Service Center. The county is seeking to disperse some services now housed at its downtown Central Plaza building into other areas of the county.

The L & H Station Development plan includes between 400 to 500 mixed apartment units suitable for various age groups.

It is anticipated that there will be between 3 to 4 phases of development, according to developer Jack Boarman of BKV Group. Phase one includes 100,000 square feet of offices and 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of retail plus 125 apartments.

“Since the development may phase out over 3-5 years based on the time it takes for the school building to be vacated, it is hard to state the total cost at this time,” noted Boarman. 

There will 30% more space for the farmer’s market, which has faced an uncertain future while Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), which owns the land, debates what to do with it. There’s also the possibility of enclosed space and toilets, as well as more green, park areas and market stalls.

An earlier proposal for the site had included a new school district building rather than a county building.

Right now, the district’s Brown Building is located at 2225 E. Lake St. It houses a range of adult basic education (ABE) programs from GED instruction to English-as-a-Second-Language classes.

Earlier plans hit a snag in May 2013 because the cost of a new building in the development to replace the Brown building was more than the district was willing to pay. It rejected the $83 million multi-use development plan that had been created with the help of the community and instead announced its intent to auction the land to the highest bidder, without public input. The decision came not long after a new administrative building for the district, the $41.7 million Davis Center, opened and sparked taxpayer ire.

“Minneapolis Public Schools has always been supportive of the neighborhood, and a great collaborator on establishing and maintaining the Midtown Farmer’s Market on its site,” remarked CNO’s Land Use & Housing committee chair Phillip Koski. “The school district has a fairly narrow focus and mission, though - teaching kids mostly.

“The county, of course, has a broader mission, and is also interested in seeing development succeed along transit lines.”

CITY AND SCHOOL STILL NEGOTIATING ON LAND SALE

By phasing the new plan, the school district will have a few years to decide what to do with its services at the Brown Building before it is torn down.

The county hopes to purchase the entire property from the school district and then lease the Brown Building back to it.

The financial details of the sale have yet to be worked out.

“Since the project is just beginning, there are many details that have to be figured out, and we look forward to working with the county and the developer on making the first phase of the project a community asset and landmark structure for Midtown,” said Koski.

15 YEARS IN THE MAKING

The neighborhood began envisioning what this site could look like shortly after construction began on the light rail line. The Corcoran Midtown Revival Plan was adopted into the Minneapolis Plan by City Council vote in 2002. At 2225 East Lake, the Corcoran plan imagined a new transit village with retail, offices, and housing surrounding a public marketplace. “Residents began implementation immediately and opened our farmer’s market on the site in 2003 through a partnership with property owner Minneapolis Public Schools,” recalled Gustafson.

The vision for the site hasn’t changed much in the last 15 years.

“As an architect, I know that big urban projects like this require long time spans to evolve and take shape,” observed Koski. “And yet, there is a risk of losing community support if there is not a consistent level of progress, year after year.”

APRIL 3 PUBLIC MEETING SET

Weigh in on the L & H Station Development plan at a public meeting on April 3, 6 p.m., at 2225 E. Lake St.

This is the April meeting of Corcoran Neighborhood Organization’s Land Use & Housing committee. The CNO Board will decide whether to support the plan based on input at the April 3 meeting.