Sears bldg to become multiethnic marketplace

Ryan Companies’ million-square-foot, mixed-use urban development project will be divided into housing, a multicultural market called Midtown Global Market, 340,000 square feet of office space committed to Allina, and 45,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail space that is not yet committed. The Sheraton Minneapolis Midtown Hotel is a freestanding building that will be part of the development with skyway access to Abbott Northwestern and Children’s Hospitals. The housing includes 52 town home units being developed by Project for Pride in Living (PPL), 219 apartment units and 89 condominiums, to include four in the historic tower of the 1928 building ranging from $175,000 to $925,000.

According to the startribune.com’s website, the Minneapolis City Council approved a $2 million loan to the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) for the development of the Midtown Global Market. This $190 million project does not go without its challenges. Rick Collins, VP of development with Ryan Companies states, “One of the larger challenges has been to maintain the strong communication links necessary to keep all the team members moving in the same direction.” The development is on schedule and upon completion will have approximately one million construction hours into the project.

The NDC has already signed on several recognized ethnic food restaurants—Manny’s Tortas and Holy Land, to name a few. The Midtown Market is geared toward both start-up businesses and others that are ready to open another location, such as Manny’s Tortas. The plan is to have the market reflect the area’s ethnicities and cultures: Native-American, African-American, Latin American, South and East Asian, African, Eastern-European, Irish, German and Scandinavian. The expected opening date is March ’06.

moving in date of December 05. Apartments and condominiums are expected to be available January 06 with the PPL town homes July 06.

The development has its own website: www.communityworks.org which states that NDC has obtained early financial support from major foundations, including the McKnight and Ford Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. There has been approximately $1.3 million budgeted for the pre-development through 2005.

Joyce Wisdom, Interim Director at the Lake Street Council, describes the Midtown Market as, “One commercial corridor that will have that kind of diversity in terms of dining and shopping experience.” The building is a historic building and because of that, certain restoration considerations needed to be factored. Concrete pillars 3 feet in diameter made the reconstruction challenging and necessitated creativity for developing this site.

The development has spurred the interest of the community to develop a Safety Center modeled after the Franklin Avenue Center. The need for a Safety Center has existed for several years. However, the redevelopment of the old Sears building has spurred the long-standing need for what is called a Safety Center.

Allina Hospitals and Clinics have plans to move their employees into their new facility this fall. The Safety Center will house Probation Officers and Crime Prevention Specialists from the police department. In addition, the center will provide the space for police officers to have access to office facilities to conduct business such as completing reports without having to leave their beat.