North side neighbors, students, chefs, caterers, cooks, elected officials, business and spiritual leaders and development partners last month joined together at the 1200 West Broadway groundbreaking ceremony to generate excitement about West Broadway redevelopment in general, and to celebrate stakeholders' commitment to make this building's renovation possible.This fall, the 1200 West Broadway building will open a community event center, a commercial rental kitchen and retail and commercial businesses.
It is being developed by Catalyst Community Partners, a social entrepreneurship enterprise that says it invests money, ideas, passion, and private-sector know-how to build momentum and achieve success. The business attempts to create long-term, measurable, sustainable social return for neighborhood communities and its partners by elevating integrity, respect, urgency, and intensity as core values that can produce extraordinary change.
The firm purchases and redevelops vacant and underutilized buildings seeking to convert them into productive, sustainable properties. It recruits and supports retail businesses serving the neighborhood community and providing neighborhood jobs. It raises the funding to achieve its development goals and provides commercial real estate development support.
Catalyst Community Partners is a wing of The Ackerberg Group, a property and project developer. Catalyst/Ackerber collaborated with Mission Construction, Maple Crest Landscaping, Gertens, BKV Group, Bruce Stillman, The Pohlad Family Foundation, Jordan Area Community Council, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, the City of Minneapolis and neighbors to reinvest in the Cottage Park area of the Jordan Neighborhood located at West Broadway and James Avenue North.
The Cottage Park Development consists of two new single-family homes, a major re-landscaping of Cottage Park, the addition of state-of-the-art playground equipment, traffic-calming speed bumps and renovation of a historic community church. Construction of the houses and landscaping began in late 2006 and was completed in mid-2007.
A main component of the Cottage Park Development was the renovation of Cottage Park itself. The park now has new landscaping, plantings, and public art. In June 2008, new playground equipment was added to Cottage Park with the help of community volunteers. Sculptor Bruce Stillman donated an interactive checkerboard sculpture, Gertens of Inver Grove Heights donated new plantings, and Maple Crest Landscaping donated landscaping boulders and labor to install the landscaping. The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board added new lighting to the park.
Catalyst Community Partners served as real estate developer for the Cottage Park project. The architect, BKV Group, gave each of the houses its own design. Each 1,800 sq. ft. home has three bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms within two floors of living space. The homes come with central air, new appliances, a ready-to-finish basement and a two car detached garage. The contractor, Mission Construction, has 20 years of building experience with previous projects in the Northside community.
More than 250 people attended a Cottage Park neighborhood celebration hosted by the Pohlad Family Foundation in early summer 2008 that included food from local vendors and musical performances by students from the Lundstrum Center for Arts.
In April of 2007, Catalyst Community Partners/The Ackerberg Group, in partnership with Welsh Construction, Collaborative Design Group and the Center for Communication Development / KMOJ-FM responded to a City of Minneapolis issued Request for Proposals (RFP) to renovate the former Delisi’s building located at the southeast corner of Penn Avenue North and West Broadway.
When finished, Delisi's will be known as the 5 Points Building.
A reorientation of the existing building creates a new entrance toward the vibrant Broadway and Penn intersection and will include a pedestrian-scale outdoor plaza. The building will house KMOJ-FM radio. The plaza will have patio space for first floor restaurants and transit stops complete with pedestrian-friendly public art. Both the building and plaza will invite community-based gatherings and be the signature of the five-corner West Broadway and Penn Avenue North intersection, Catalyst says.
The project includes the total renovation of the building and the creation of a 23-space asphalt parking lot from two adjacent parcels. The existing brick structure which was constructed in 1914 and most recently housed the Delisi Bar and Restaurant required a new roof, new floors, new mechanicals, elevator installation and extensive window and tuck-pointing work.
Catalyst Community Partners says it hopes vibrant tenant-partners will bring energy, identity and sustainability to the neighborhood community. As anchor tenant of 5 Points, KMOJ-FM's mission supports the development work of Catalyst Community Partners:
“KMOJ exists to develop and support the empowerment of the Black community through the power of mass communication by 1) providing information and education not offered through mainstream media outlets, and 2) teaching members of the Black community responsible journalism and media skills that offer professional experiences and increase the numbers of Black people employed in the media industry.”
The 1101 West Broadway Building has won three awards for excellence: the 2008 Neighborhood Preservation Award from the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission and American Institute of Architects - Minnesota; the 2007 NAIOP Award of Excellence for the Repositioned/Renovated category; and the 2006 Best in Real Estate Award in the Redevelopment/Extensive Renovation category.
Completed in April 2007, the southwest corner of West Broadway Avenue and Emerson Avenue North now flows with renewed life.
After being vacant and boarded for more than 10 years, the 1101 West Broadway Building began a major renovation that was completed in only 7 months. The renovated building is now home to a credit union, a community building organization headquarters, and a coffee shop.
Catalyst Community Partners/The Ackerberg Group, Welsh Construction, Emerge Community Development (ECD), and City County Federal Credit Union (CCFSU) teamed together to respond to a City of Minneapolis RFP-to develop the building that the city acquired. The city awarded the opportunity to the team and construction began in October 2006.
The $4 million renovation succeeded in allocating 27.5% of the project hours to a construction workforce of color. Catalyst Community Partners worked with the City of Minneapolis, Welsh Companies, and the community to hire contractors of color and contractors from within the community.
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