Minneapolis, MN

City of Minneapolis extends funding deadline for proposed urban farm at Roof Depot site

Published

37 mins ago

September 6, 2024

City of Minneapolis extends funding deadline for proposed urban farm at Roof Depot site

Extension for group looking to buy Roof Depot site

The community group hoping to buy and redevelop the Roof Depot site in Minneapolis is getting an extension to find funding.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – After a key deadline passed in July, a proposed urban farm project at the Roof Depot site in Minneapolis has new life.

What’s new?

The decade-long push to redevelop the former Roof Depot warehouse into an urban farm and housing co-op will continue for at least another year. The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday gave developers a one-year extension to purchase the property.

How will they pay for it?

But gathering the capital to finance the $11.4 million purchase has proven difficult. In May, the state legislature failed to pass a measure that would have forked over the remaining $5.7 million needed to close the deal. The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, a community organization spearheading the effort to purchase the vacant lot, raised $3.7 million itself, with another $2 million coming from the state.

What are they saying?

“Please see us. We deserve better. And we demand better,” said Kelly Morgan, who lives near the site of the proposed co-op.

He fears what will happen if the project ultimately fails to move forward.

“It will be another injustice committed against Little Earth of United tribes, specifically, and all of East Phillips residents.”

Background

The city initially planned to convert the property into a public works facility, but abandoned that idea after community pushback. The city then agreed to sell the property to developers, who have struggled to secure the necessary funding.

“I don’t think we can ever be 100 percent confident in politics, right?” said State Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis. “And, as we saw, really heartbreakingly, in May, $5.7 million was on the line and didn’t pass.”

But even if developers secure the required capital, they will need millions more to start construction.

“It isn’t all roses,” said Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents Ward 9. “Once the state gets this done, which I feel very confident that we can do, the county and the city will need to team up and work together on the development of the project and making sure that this gets off the ground.”

Chavez noted that funding for construction could also come from private sources, such as investors or philanthropists. He said federal grants for that phase of the project are complicated now because developers do not own the property.

The new deadline for developers to close on the property is Sept. 15, 2025.

Timeline

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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis City Council approves year extension for activists to purchase Roof Depot for indoor urban farm

Published

8 hours ago

September 5, 2024

Press Room

Minneapolis City Council approves year extension for activists to purchase Roof Depot for indoor urban farm

Just one week before the final deadline for East Phillips environmental activists to come up with $11.4 million to buy a city-owned warehouse for their vision of an indoor urban farm, the Minneapolis City Council on Thursday granted the activists a one-year extension to get the funding.

It’s the latest twist in the long fight of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) to gain control of the former Roof Depot warehouse at E. 28th Street and Longfellow Avenue.

For a decade, neighborhood activists have opposed the city’s plans to build a Public Works yard for water maintenance staff, equipment and diesel vehicles — something that city staff said would benefit Minneapolis as a whole despite concentrating more air pollution in the heavily industrialized, working class East Phillips neighborhood.

Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents East Phillips, and his council predecessor Alondra Cano have long opposed building a municipal water yard in the Ninth Ward, while other council members have waffled on the thorny issue.

On Thursday, Chavez won the unanimous support of his colleagues at the City Council meeting for a resolution to extend the funding deadline to September 2025 for EPNI, which was unlikely to come up with the money by the previous deadline of next week.

“This item today that I am bringing forward is a collaborative effort with the mayor’s administration, City Council, staff and the community I represent to find a viable pathway forward, and it shows what we can do when we all work together,” Chavez said.

“I’m proud of the tenacity of East Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air. It’s one of the reasons why Ward Nine continues to be hopeful for the future.”

After years of protests and lawsuits, Minneapolis officials gave up on plans to build a water yard at Roof Depot and agreed to sell EPNI the property, provided the group produced a $3.7 million personal guaranty and the Legislature provided $2 million in 2023 followed by $5.7 million in 2024. The Legislature also has committed $4.5 million to Minneapolis to find a new site for its water yard.

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Minneapolis, MN

East Phillips group gets 1-year extension to buy Roof Depot site

Published

15 hours ago

September 5, 2024

Press Room

East Phillips group gets 1-year extension to buy Roof Depot site

A neighborhood organization planning to purchase the Minneapolis Roof Depot site now has an extra year to come up with the funds, after hitting road blocks in finding the money.

The City Council passed a measure Thursday extending the deadline from next week to September 2025.

The city agreed last year to sell the empty warehouse to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), a local environmental group. But just over a week ahead of the deadline, EPNI was still $5.7 million short, after the state Legislature failed to pass the funding before the end of its last session.

Council member Jason Chavez, who represents the East Phillips neighborhood, introduced the measure for a deadline extension. He said the extra time is a win for EPNI.

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“I’m proud of the tenacity, the strength of Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air,” Chavez said. “This gets us closer to changing the lives of Phillips residents for decades to come.”

Neighborhood groups pushed to buy the site for several years. The city wanted to convert it to a waterworks facility; local advocates worried that project would pollute the neighborhood. The city agreed to sell it to EPNI last year, after state legislators agreed to partially fund the project.

The extension gives the Legislature another chance to pass the remaining funding. In its last session, the money passed in the House, but the Senate missed its end-of-session deadline to vote on it.

In return for the extension, EPNI is increasing its collateral with an additional pledge of marketable securities.

The City Council unanimously passed the deadline extension, but not without concerns from some council members.

Council member Linea Palmisano said she’s frustrated by the continued delays that cause the site to sit empty, after years of tug-of-war over the site between the city and neighborhood advocates.

“I’ve spent years working to put this property to productive use,” Palmisano said. “Often it takes many legislative sessions to get state funding, and I’m willing to give it one more. If the state doesn’t come through, that is not something I think is in the interest of the public, of the city, or of the neighborhood to continue any further.”

EPNI plans to convert the site into a community center, with an indoor urban farm, retail spaces and community services.

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