Potential along 38th St. being tapped

Ground breaks for 3828 housing, retail; first phase will open next fall

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Ground broke on Wed, Oct. 19, for the first of several buildings that will reshape 38th Ave. west of the light rail station. Calling it the first step, community leaders praised the vision of the project and the way it will fit into the neighborhood.

Ground broke for the 3828 project at the southwest corner of 38th St. and 28th Ave. on Wed., Oct. 19. Left to right: County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association Board President Molly McCartney, Ward 12 Council Member Andrew Johnson, Lander Group President Michael Lander, Andrew Moeding of the Lander Group, and Andy Root of Forteva Real Estate and Solar. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

The new building at the southwest corner of 38th St. and 28th Ave. will wrap around the existing streetcar commercial building owned by Forteva, and will include 51 market-rate apartments and four retail spaces. The new building will replace surface parking, a tiny service garage, a one-story concrete block building and a duplex on portions of four properties.

County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin (left) and Lander Group President Michael Lander talk about how development has followed the light rail line in south Minneapolis. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

The commercial space will face 38th St., and ground floor residential units will face 28th Ave. Forteva will be incorporating a solar installation, an electric car (EV) charging station, and perhaps an electric Car To Go.
There will be 34 new off-street parking stalls screened from the road that will be used for resident and business parking. Construction will take between 12 to 14 months. Viewed as a transit-oriented project, developer Michael Lander of Lander Group pointed out that the plan for the site matches the SENA neighborhood plan developed in 2007. “Lander Group never met a parking lot it didn’t want to build on,” commented Lander.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin recalled, “They laughed at us 20 years ago when we said there would be development along the light rail lines. …The energy around light rail has been incredible. I’m very excited we’re going to see investment here at this corner.”
This is the first of several buildings being planned by the Lander Group for the stretch east from the light rail station that will “transform” the area, according to Council Member Andrew Johnson. “Great things are happening here,” Johnson stated.

The project at the corner of 28th and 38th is the first planned by the Lander Group, and will be followed by work near the light rail station at 38th and Hiawatha Ave. Work at the light rail station will include several buildings housing housing and retail. It will likely be done in phases and could begin as soon as fall 2017. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Six houses along 29th will come down within the next few years to make way for several planned buildings at the 38th Street light rail station, as well as allow buses access to 29th. A five-story apartment building will wrap around The Cardinal, and along the light rail line, there will be a two-story retail and office structure. Across the street, the intent is to replace one house and the Cardinal parking lot with a four-story mixed-use housing building. Included in the plan are a courtyard and parking area.
Lander pointed out that the demographics of the neighborhood had changed over the past 25 years when 75 percent of homes had children in them. Today, just 25 percent of homes have children, which changes the type of housing citizens are looking for.
The Lander Group envisions its retail as an amenity to those who live in the building, and seek out unique and out-of-the-box businesses. There may be a shared kitchen in one area to help several businesses with the large cost of kitchens, for example. Anyone with ideas on businesses for the area is encouraged to contact Andy Root of Forteva at 612-414-6113 or aroot@forteva.com.

This article appeared in the November 2016 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Metro Transit Police Department reinvents itself

Under chief John Harrington, department to add beat cops at light rail stations

Photo by Stefanie Ferres

by Tesha M. Christensen

When the lightrail line on University Ave. opens next year, there will be 15 Metro Transit Police Officers patrolling it.

The officers will do more than ride the trains and check fares. They will also actively patrol the stations and work to build relationships with riders.

According to Metro Transit Police Department Chief John Harrington, ridership studies have shown that people feel the most at risk when they are on a platform waiting for a train or bus transfer.

Since assuming leadership of Metro Transit’s police officers a year ago, Harrington has worked to change the philosophy of the department, and with that address 85 recommendations for change made by the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute before his tenure. He doesn’t want to see officers merely react to crime when it happens. He wants them to help prevent it by operating as neighborhood beat cops.

OFFICERS ADDED

To accomplish that goal, he has been adding more staff.

“I fundamentally believe that when I got here, the department was understaffed,” said Harrington, whose background is in community policing.

In the last year, Metro Transit has added administrators, supervisors and officers. There were 22 new part-time officers added in April 2013, and 19 full-time in August. Another 26 part-time officers will join the ranks this fall.

In the hires, Harrington has sought to create a department that reflects the communities it serves. When he was chief of the St. Paul Police Department, he sought to ensure that 20% of officers were people of color and/or women. He hopes to reach that goal again while at Metro Transit. Of those hired in August, half were people of color, and several were multi-lingual, Harrington observed. He pointed out that 100 foreign languages are spoken within the Metro Transit area.

“We have a lot of work to do until the department is truly reflective,” Harringson said. “This is just the beginning.”

The cost of each officer is $93,000 per year (salary, benefits and supplies). Metro Transit Police Department’s total budget in 2013 is roughly $12.41 million.

There are currently 12 officers dedicated to the Hiawatha Blue Line, a number that isn’t enough staff for a beat cop system. Harrington hopes to bump that up and has asked for an increase in his 2014 budget to do so.

The two most common crimes on lightrail are disorderly conduct and the theft of electronics and backpacks, both on and off the train, noted Harrington.

Each day, 260,000 people hop on a Metro Transit bus and train. When there’s a problem, officers average a 2 minutes or less response time.

CHALLENGES OF A MOVING SYSTEM

The 83 full-time Metro Transit police officers cover the second biggest jurisdiction in the state, one that stretches over 8 counties, 90 cities, 3,246 square miles and 3 million people.

The size comes with its set of challenges, one Harrington believes only a department dedicated to transit can handle. He pointed out that the crimes Metro Transit deals with don’t fit easily in one geographic space, which makes it tough for city police departments to handle. For instance, a bus might start out from St. Paul and end in Minneapolis. The victim might live in Brooklyn Center and the witnesses spread throughout several other cities. So, whose job is it to handle, who does the follow-up and who pays for it?

Metro Transit’s Police Department was created 20 years ago in acknowledgement of those problems, pointed out Harrington. “We are unique,” he said.

That’s not to say Metro Transit works alone. Rather, the department partners with many other organizations. Harrington is currently working to establish formal memorandums of understanding with the many cities and other entities (such as the University of Minnesota) in their jurisdiction to clearly outline who handles what. His goal is that each group “share information so that investigations can be seamless and the perpetrator brought to justice,” Harrington remarked.

PAST EXPERIENCE A BOON

To accomplish this task, Harrington is relying on the relationships and colleagues from his 30 years with the St. Paul Police Department, six of which he spent as chief there. He believes that the trust he has built over up his career is a boon to him in his position with Metro Transit.

From his time as senator, Harrington has brought a broad view of problem solving.

“The legislature prompted me to look at things from a regional perspective,” Harrington stated.

The mission of Metro Transit is to be a safe, cost-effective and efficient provider of transit throughout the metro area.

Since he came on board in September 2012, Harrington the role of metro transit has shifted and changed alot, Harrington pointed out. “We’ve pretty much reinvented ourselves,” he noted.

“This year we’ll go through another reinvention.”

This story was printed in the September 2013 edition of the St. Paul Monitor.