04.28.17

Sherman, city officials inaugurate $8 million renovation on North Side | Star Tribune

Developer George Sherman, community and government officials christened Friday morning the $8 million resurrection of a long-shuttered car dealership that has been an eyesore for years at 800 W. Broadway on the near- north side's biggest commercial artery that spans from the Mississippi River to Robbinsdale. The renovated complex, financed largely by Sunrise Banks and long-term low-income tax credits granted by the federal government in struggling neighborhoods, will include a NorthPoint Health & Wellness clinic, a state workforce center and an office of the Minneapolis public schools. They will work together on job-readiness, business-collaborations and employment. There also is ground level retail space. The dignitaries will include Lt. Governor Tina Smith, Minnesota Commissioner of Economic Development Shawntera Hardy and Mayor Betsy Hodges. Beth Grosen, senior project manager with Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development department, said the building opened in 1925 and remained a car dealership until the early 1990s. It was most recently a used furniture store. The former owner ceased paying taxes about a decade ago. Developer Sherman, who owns the Hawthorne Crossing shopping center next door, acquired the building out of foreclosure. A city staff report of three years ago estimated that redevelopment costs would exceed the finished value of the building, creating a financing gap. And Minneapolis provided $500,000 in tax-increment financing, essentially a loan to be repaid from the higher property taxes over time. The attractive renovation is another upgrade for long-struggling West Broadway. It's reviving storefront-by-storefront between Interstate Highway-94 and Penn Avenue with small businesses focused on retail, food, health, wellness and art. Moreover, housing prices on the north side have been rising faster than in the city as a whole in recent years, another sign of economic uptick. The state has put up for sale the old workforce center building at 1200 Plymouth Av. N. Neal St. Anthony |  April 28, 2017 - 11:25 AM View Original Article Here.