Former Antiques Minnesota building set to reopen

One of South Minneapolis’ largest vacant commercial properties will get new life, thanks to the efforts of neighborhood businesses, nonprofits, arts organizations, community groups and innovative financing.

Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT), Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are using New Markets Tax Credits to help rehabilitate the former Antiques Minnesota building on Bloomington and Lake Street. The three-story, 43,000-square foot commercial building has sat vacant since 1998.

NDC partnered with HOBT and the Latino Economic Development Center, and worked closely with the Cooperativa de Mercado Central and the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association to create a vision for the building that will bring economic vitality to Lake Street, enhance the area’s burgeoning Latino business district, and create opportunities for further arts and cultural programming in the neighborhood.

The extensive renovation will combine high quality retail, office and nonprofit arts space with convenient parking. The project will give the entrepreneurs of the Cooperativa Mercado Central an opportunity to grow and expand their businesses into first floor retail spaces and establish the Lake Street corridor as the central Latino Commercial District in Minneapolis. The second floor will provide office spaces for Latino businesses, as well as the new Lake Street Entrepreneur & Career Center, a joint venture of NDC, Minneapolis Community Technical College, Goodwill Easter Seals, and the City of Minneapolis. The third floor ballroom will be used by HOBT for studio, office and performance space for itself and other puppet artists, fostering the cultural development begun 16 years ago when HOBT renovated the Avalon Theatre on the corner of 15th and Lake Street.

Groundbreaking for the project took place on July 14. The retail storefronts are scheduled to open by November 1; the second floor offices by December 1; HOBT will follow in January 2005.

This project is the first in Minnesota to leverage New Markets Tax Credits and the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. The total cost of the project is $4.26 million. Project partners include Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo Community Development Corporation (CDC), the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Empowerment Zone, the Metropolitan Council, Pohlad Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, Partners for the Common Good and a variety of other lenders who saw this project as an incredible opportunity to make a critical investment in community entrepreneurs and local cultural organizations.

The building is the second largest vacant property in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood (second only to the Sears site), and the shuttered windows and uncontrolled parking lot hindered the growth potential of neighborhood businesses, particularly restaurants and retail stores that need a location with positive, active street life. Due to the size of this property and its prominent position on Lake Street, it became a property of high concern among neighborhood groups, residents and the area business association.

“The rebirth of Bloomington and Lake began with Mercado Central. Since then, we’ve seen new housing, a revitalized retail market with Me Gusta Place, and now the renovation of this historic landmark as a vital commercial space and the hub of a growing business and arts crossroads. This is truly an innovative community redevelopment effort,” said Mayor R.T. Rybak.

Built as a Masonic Lodge in the 1920’s, the building will be returned to the spirit of its original design, including three retail storefronts to open directly onto Lake Street. By renovating this prime historic property, the project creates new economic and cultural opportunities for residents and businesses located in the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone – housing arts and community-based businesses that will create jobs for teens and adults, provide cultural programs for neighborhood youth and families, and generate new customers for nearby restaurants, stores and businesses. In its revitalized life, the new center will help light up the surrounding neighborhood with activity that is the hallmark of a thriving commercial node.

Kathee Foran, executive director of HOBT, said, “This is a project that we have been dreaming about for years. While providing much needed expansion space for our programs and activities, the revitalization of this historic building is key to the health of the area as a whole. We look forward with great anticipation to the new activity that this will bring to our part of Lake Street.”

“This project has taken the talents of many organizations, along with tremendous investments made by Latino entrepreneurs and neighborhood residents, to transform this intersection into a place where people will come to live, work, and shop,” said Mihailo “Mike” Temali, executive director of NDC. “The restored building will further help cement this intersection in the minds of consumers as the place to come for outstanding Latino products and community art.”