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

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Published  September 5, 2024 10:19pm CDT
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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.

The Brief

    • The Minneapolis City Council granted a one-year extension for developers to purchase the Roof Depot site, extending the deadline to September 15, 2025.
    • Financing the $11.4 million purchase has been challenging; the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute raised $3.7 million, with an additional $2 million from the state, but the remaining $5.7 million needed was not approved by the state legislature.
    • If the developers secure the purchase funding, further financial support will be needed for construction, potentially from private investors, philanthropists, or federal grants.

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