The renovation of the iconic Minneapolis Coliseum building is set to begin next year as the Longfellow community will receive a new hub for diverse entrepreneurs. Seward Redesign originally purchased the building for $2 million in late July.
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When the financing for the deal is completed, Redesign and its partners will start transforming the building into an affordable and welcoming space for the community and new local businesses.
The building, located on Lake St., was damaged during civil unrest last summer and was expected to be demolished. The building has been a commercial space since 1917 at the intersection of East Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue, Finance & Commerce reported.
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Seward Redesign is a nonprofit developer and will partner with several Black-owned businesses to own and operate the building when the renovation work is finished.
The building will have multiple owners, including Alicia Belton from Urban Design Perspectives and Chris Montana, the Du Nord Craft Spirits CEO, and owner. In addition, the building will host a cocktail room on the first floor owned by Montana and a co-op office space for black creatives built by Janice Downing of CommonSense Consulting@Work and Belton, Finance & Commerce reported.
The building still has a number of spaces open for tenants, which they expect to be occupied by businesses owned by people from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. Redesign is also inviting former tenants back to the building.
The nonprofit's goal is to make the building a destination for community members, Taylor Smrikárova, lead project manager for Seward Redesign, said.
"Our goal is to make an active, vibrant building a part of the community. … That just inherently means a very diverse mix of tenants and businesses," she said. "What's really key is that we want the buildings to feel like you're supposed to be there."
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The building will look to offer affordable leases, so there will be a limited number of "bells and whistles," Smrikárova said.
"Redesign has been working in these neighborhoods for over 50 years, and we're very well aware of what the market could bear but also the kind of tenant that we want to attract," she said. "It's very important to us that the spaces are affordable."