Midtown project gets $700,000

The new Midtown Global Market project will receive $700,000 through the Neighborhood Development Center, Inc. (NDC), a community-based nonprofit organization helping emerging entrepreneurs in the Twin
Cities area.

The funding, provided through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Community Services, will be used to renovate the first floor of the vacant Sears building, creating a marketplace with a variety of ethnic foods that reflect the numerous cultural populations in Minneapolis.

“With the help of this grant, the Global Marketplace will spur needed revitalization with a variety of retail business opportunities in the Chicago and Lake area,” said U.S. Representative Martin Sabo. “The best public investments are made when projects provide sustainable, community-based economic development, and the Global Marketplace promises to do just that.”

The Midtown Global Market, which will become the city’s largest public market, will include about 60 businesses. It is part of a massive redevelopment project 10 years in the making, and also will include 360 housing units, the headquarters of Allina Hospitals and Clinics, a Sheraton hotel, and a new transit facility. The entire complex is scheduled for completion in 2006.