After community pushback, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously decided to cover about $630,000 in costs that property owners were originally required to pay to support the development of People’s Way, a former gas station turned memorial in George Floyd Square. Council members also voted down a contract with Minnesota Agape Movement, which submitted a plan for the development and was selected by Mayor Jacob Frey in May. 

Edwin Reed had to close his business in George Floyd Square due to drops in revenue in July of last year. Reed said he was surprised to hear about the special assessment handed out.

Reed said the fact that the cost was to be offloaded to locals upset him. He believes the project should not be the people’s responsibility, but the city’s.

“We didn’t start it, they did,” Reed said. “To make us pay for it is just another slap in the face to me, my business was decimated up there.” 

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley lives near George Floyd Square. She said the city council’s original decision was unfair, and she’s glad the council took steps to reconsider. 

“I think it’s great that the city reevaluated the assessments that would have been placed on residents and businesses,” Conley said. “When we set a levy that collects property taxes, it’s to do things like take care of the roads that we drive on.”

Self-proclaimed “Tourist Interrupter” of George Floyd Square and Minneapolis resident Marquise Bowie said the neighborhood has gone without city investment for far too long. 

Bowie is a founder of the Agape Movement, a 40-year-old grassroots community safety organization based in South Minneapolis. Since Floyd’s death, he and others in the organization have tried to support the community in any way they can, a commitment that Bowie said he hasn’t seen from city officials.

“It’s been six years. Nobody’s really investing in our neighborhood without any fires. We’ve seen fires burn down buildings to the gravel that are built back up,” Bowie said. “We don’t have nothing permanent that lets people know anymore about George Floyd or about the community at large.” 

Following the city’s purchase of Peoples’ Way in 2023, the Minneapolis City Council received submissions from four teams that pitched their development ideas for the People’s Way. The Agape Movement was chosen by Frey earlier this year, but the city council voted against the decision, opting to reconsider other applicants. 

South Minneapolis resident Dee Thomas said restrooms are a need at George Floyd Square. 

“They want people to come through here and do tours here, but there’s no place to use the bathroom,” Thomas said. “Where can the people that are here in the community day by day, watching over the square and keeping the people safe, get to use the restroom and wash our hands?” 

South Minneapolis resident Roxy Drake sat alongside Thomas on a metal chair at People’s Way. She said she wants to see a recreational center built. Community members may soon have the development they’ve been hoping for, but struggles to agree on a developer bring further uncertainty to the project.

Conley said, given the survey distributed to community members, Rise and Remember was the more favored option. 

“What you saw the city council do was deny the mayor’s recommendation and move forward with the recommendation of the people who were surveyed and who said Rise and Remember best represents what we want to see at the site,” Conley said. “I think the council was really honoring the voices of residents.”

While it may appear that for one developer to win the bid, another one must lose, Conley said there is plenty to go around with the 38th Street THRIVE Plan, a plan created by community members and the city of Minneapolis to drive engagement on 38th Street between Nicollet Avenue and Bloomington. 

“We should be listening to the residents, and I think we need to really fund the 38th Street THRIVE Plan so that other development can happen,” Conley said. “One of them could be what Agape has presented. Why not both?” 

The timeline for construction of the square remains the same, with the project set to be done in late 2027, though development action remains unclear. However, Minneapolis City Council members Soren Stevenson and Jason Chavez have made continuing efforts with the project, frequently meeting with Frey about what is best for People’s Way.  

Though Stevenson declined an interview with the Minnesota Daily, a member of his team said the next steps are still undecided and will be publicly announced when ready. 

Bowie said he wants the council to move forward with Agape Movement’s plans for the square.

“We’ve been here, we were open to working with whoever to try to build a better community,” Bowie said. “We don’t want to stay in activism mode forever and kick the can down the road. We want to start building.”

Apartment complex A/C problem

Scorching heat is making life miserable for some at heritage park apartments in north Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains the situation.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Tenants at Heritage Park in north Minneapolis have had to settle for fans to cool off as broken air conditioning units remain unrepaired during a stretch of scorching heat.

Tenants say broken A/C units are just the latest problem

What we know:

Multiple tenants are dealing with broken air conditioning units, leaving their homes uncomfortably hot during the day and even hotter at night.

“I don’t like it very much at all. And especially with somebody running back and forth to the hospital, I don’t need all this stress,” said Eddie Robinson, a tenant at the complex. “It’s an oven.”

Temperatures inside Robinson’s apartment routinely climb into the 80s, and he said it gets even hotter at night because he must lock up his windows for safety.

“People will come in your house if they see a window open,” he said.

But Robinson said it is actually one of the better apartments he has lived in during his dozen years at Heritage Park.

“The first unit – the rats took it over,” he said.

None of the three air conditioning units outside his building were working on Monday, and he said he could not find anyone to fix them.

Other problems at the complex

The backstory:

Heritage Park has faced ongoing complaints from tenants about rats, mold, leaks and poor water pressure, among other concerns.

City Council Member Pearll Warren recently posted a video on social media showing moldy walls and dirty floors.

Outside the buildings, there are broken stairs, busted lights and boarded-up windows.

These issues have prompted the Minneapolis NAACP to call for the city’s public housing chief to step down.

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, which owns the land but does not maintain the property, said it is working with the court-appointed receiver to address hundreds of open maintenance orders. The agency said the previous owner ran into financial trouble and stopped making repairs. The property entered receivership in late 2025.

Robinson, who is 75 and battling cancer, said he is just trying to make it through the summer with his support dog, Lele.

“I got to keep water out for her all the time, you know. Otherwise, she’ll get dehydrated,” he said.

The management company, Property Solutions & Services Inc., said it is offering portable air conditioners to tenants with broken central units, but Robinson said he does not want one because they do not help.

Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai said Monday she will be taking a monthlong leave to seek outpatient care for her mental health.

Chughtai said her “office will remain open to continue serving the people of Ward 10,” but she will miss the council meeting on July 16. She plans to return before the July 30 meeting.

“I love representing the people of this Ward. It’s the greatest honor of my life. And that’s why I feel obligated to do so to the best of my abilities,” Chughtai said in a statement. “Because of the current state of my mental health, I fear falling short of that obligation. That’s why I’m briefly stepping back. I fully expect to return energized and ready to give more than ever for the people of Ward 10 and everyone in the city.”

In her statement, Chughtai cited “a high-stakes election … several mass shootings, and a federal occupation” as recent stressors on her mental health.   

Chughtai said she has notified the council and Mayor Jacob Frey, and encouraged Ward 10 residents to contact her office via email with any questions or concerns. 

“I know that when I return, I’ll be back stronger, ready to form deeper partnerships, and ready to fight even harder for our neighbors,” she said.

Chughtai was first elected in 2021 to represent Ward 10, which includes the south Minneapolis neighborhoods of East Bde Maka Ska, East Isles, Lowry Hill East, South Uptown and Whittier.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress, get help from the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Trained crisis counselors are available 24 hours a day to talk about anything.

In addition, help is available from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI. Call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264 or text “HelpLine” to 62640. There are more than 600 local NAMI organizations and affiliates across the country, many of which offer free support and education programs.