Hennepin County sets aside $54 million for redevelopment at 2225 E. Lake St.

Development at the 2225 E. Lake St. site will occur in three to four phases, requiring the move of the farmer’s market several times, in order to give the school district time to find a new home for its programs.

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

Hennepin County’s plan to purchase the school district’s 6.4-acre parcel at 2225 E. Lake St. for the first mixed-use transit village along the light rail Blue Line is receiving mixed reviews from residents. There is both excitement and concern for the plan that includes a new county services hub, as well as retail, high-density and single-family homes.

Some people, like longtime community volunteer Billy Weber, Jr., are thrilled that there will finally be more than a parking lot at the property, acting as a barrier into Corcoran.

“I really do think the project is a good project, and it’s going to make a big difference for the neighborhood,” said Weber.

Others, such as Sam Newberg of Joe Urban, Inc., don’t feel that the design goes far enough. “The county facility is a suburban building in an urban location,” said Newberg. “Visitors and county staff will be able to drive in to the parking garage and take an elevator into the building, never setting foot on a sidewalk. This may sound great to some, but great urban spaces are where all people mix and mingle in public spaces.”

“As an overall idea, the development project is very exciting,” stated artist and actress Laura Wilhelm of Mad Munchkin Productions. “However the key will be in its upkeep and the continued programming for its use. The potential is so wonderful, and yet its prosperity hinges on the right retailers being present, the right draw for flow of people, and the right group or people to oversee activities in the plaza outside of the farmer’s market.”

County sets aside $54 million

Residents have been dreaming about redevelopment of the parcel at 2225 E. Lake St. for over 15 years, dating back to when the Met Council began envisioning how areas along the light rail line could be transformed. The site is the former home of the Brown Institute, Anishinabe Academy, and most recently the Minneapolis School District’s Adult Basic Education program. An earlier proposal for the site had included a new school district building rather than a county building, but that plan fell through because the school district didn’t want to pay for a new building there.

In November 2014, the Hennepin County Board approved, on a split vote, shifting around $54 million to fund this project, with local Commissioner Peter McLaughlin among those in support. Of that, $8 million will go to the school district to pay for the property, $30 million for the service center, and $16 million for parking.

The plan includes selling off a chunk of the property to L&H Station Development to build 125 housing units in the project’s first phase and to share the cost of the underground parking ramp. L&H is expected to pay the county $1 million in early 2015 when the deal closes.

Construction on the new county service center will begin in early 2015.

The county already has opened four service hubs as it prepares to close Century Plaza downtown. There are new centers in Brooklyn Center, north Minneapolis, Bloomington and Hopkins, and a center in northeast Minneapolis is under construction. These hubs are part of the county’s plan to place services closer to where residents live so they can avoid the drive downtown.

Development at the site will occur in three to four phases, requiring the move of the farmer’s market several times, in order to give the school district time to find a new home for its programs. The county will charge the district an escalating rental rate as an incentive to move out earlier than the seven-year deadline.

Resident opinion varies

The development plan created by L&H Station Development, in collaboration with the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization and residents, closely follows the Midtown Revival Plan adopted in 2002.

Weber helped fashion that plan. He observed that the height of proposed buildings and the density of the property fit in well with the Midtown Revival Plan goals, and he’s pleased to see how the size and density step back as you move from busy Lake St. to the residential 31st St. He appreciates how 23rd Ave. is extended in the plan, connecting one of the neighborhood’s busiest streets with the new development.

Weber, who has lived in Corcoran since 1997, attended two recent county-organized community meetings regarding sustainability within the development. The county agreed to build its service center according to the Sustainable Building 2030 goals, a level that the state adheres to in new construction projects. Energy consumption will be 70% better than code. It will be solar-ready, awaiting the funds needed to install solar panels on the roof.

Another signature attribute is the green roof, which Weber is excited to view from the train station nearby when it is complete.

Russ Henry of Giving Tree Gardens also attended the sustainability meetings, but left feeling that more could be done. “Grey water recycling and food production space were both rejected out of hand by the county and the green roofs and solar energy production planned for the site are minimal,” remarked Henry. “Storm water retention seems to be in the plan, but the county appears ready to drop any and all sustainability measures at any time that they might become economically challenging.”

Henry is also disappointed about the timing of low-income housing. “This project will provide some much needed low-income housing, but unfortunately the low-income housing portion of the development is slated as the last part to be built with market rate housing coming first,” Henry observed. “There is a pressing need for low-income housing in the neighborhoods adjacent to the site, low-income housing should be a higher priority.”

Henry is among those excited to see a permanent home being set aside for the Midtown Farmer’s Market, and he believes it will likely spur growth in sales. There is concern about the location of the market and whether it will be hidden there or visible.

Tami Traeger of Nice Ride Minnesota would prefer to see that new road area be a pedestrian walkway instead., and wishes that the county not subsidize car use by providing free parking to county employees but instead charging for parking in order to encourage other modes of transportation to and from this transit hub. During the community engagement meetings she attended, people brought up the need for improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists at the intersection at Lake and Hennepin.

“The county representative did not wish to discuss this intersection in regard to this project, but it is critical to the success of the residential portion of the plan as residents will need to cross over to the Target and Cub,” said Traeger. “The current design of the Lake and Hennepin intersection is not welcoming to pedestrians or bicyclists and many feel it is dangerous.” She doesn’t think that the county, as a developer, seemed interested in continuing to work with the neighborhood to meet the goals of the community. Traeger views the current plan as a good start, but doesn’t see it as a final plan.

“Hennepin County wants this project done fast,” said Newberg, a Standish resident. “We need to demand it be done right.”

“I look forward to green space, and art space, and people living and playing together at 2225 E. Lake, but I would ask all my neighbors to pay attention and keep using their voice to keep the development on track to be a success,” encouraged Wilhelm. “We don’t want another huge paved barren triangle of land gathering dust and trouble.”