Development News

Thistle, an occasional shop that offers repurposed vintage furniture and other home accessories, opened in the historical Milton Square in St. Paul in May.

The space has had a variety of uses through the years, according to shop owner Heather O’Malley.
She describes the place as a “nice complement to the quirky building,” which dates back to 1909. It has a European feeling, with old-fashioned steps that lead down to the store. People can “overlook it from the street and down into my doorway. People love to peek over,” she says.

Although O’Malley made some cosmetic changes to the 800-square-foot space, “My type of furniture, quirky repurposed things, fits in well with this,” she says. To flesh that out a little more, she took away layers to expose old pipes and radiators.  

O’Malley, who also has a set-design business, had always wanted to have a shop like this and she likes the neighborhood. As far as work goes, “I love to find things and change them up and make them into something else, give them a new life,” she says, adding, “I felt it was time for me to have a retail spot for it.”  

So, when this space opened up, “It was the perfect opportunity,” and it makes sense for the neighborhood, too, which is characterized by older homes, she says.

Since the shop is only open for a limited time over the course of a month, “It’s not like a typical gift shop. It’s constantly changing,” with different merchandise all the time. “People feel like they’re on a scavenger hunt to find something no one else has discovered yet.”  

The shop’s next sale dates go from July 11 to 14. (Check the website for further details.) “People get excited about seeing what comes next,” O'Malley says, adding, “There’s been some really interesting comments and good feedback so far.”
 

Source: Heather O’Malley, owner, Thistle
Writer: Anna Pratt

A new French-style bakery and bistro on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis is hosting its grand opening this Thursday.
 
The French Corner Bistro & Bakery, which had a soft opening earlier this month, offers a wide variety of baked goods, sandwiches, soups and salads, and wine.
 
Nadia Storchak, a co-owner of the place along with Vladimir Storchak and Chrystel Klein, says the bistro’s concept is comparable to that of the former Pardon My French restaurants. “It has a similar menu,” she says, adding, “We have a French chef from France. So, it’s not only in the name. We have real French foods.”   
 
The bistro, which has 40 seats inside along with sidewal-café seating, brought about a dramatic makeover of the space, which once housed a bank. “We demolished everything that was here before and started again. It was a big project,” Storchak says.
 
Inside, the bistro has a French-inspired ambience, with an eye-catching chandelier and granite countertops. “It’s a transitional modern look,” she says.
 
The place fills a unique niche in the area. “It’s a big need for people living or working downtown. There are a lot of coffee shops, but no place to buy pastries,” she says. Already, the place has been busy. “It’s a great place just to spend time and hang out with friends,” Storchak says, adding, “We have the best macaroons in town. Everyone is saying they’re the best.”
 
French Corner Bistro & Bakery also helps bring business to the adjacent Dahl Pharmacy, which the Storchaks and Klein also own, she says.  
 
In the future, the bistro hopes to add catering services along with boxed lunches. “We’re looking forward to seeing more customers,” says Storchak.
 
 
Source: Nadia Storchak, co-owner, French Corner Bistro & Bakery
Writer: Anna Pratt

As a survivor of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007, Lindsay Walz, a youth worker, turned to art for healing.  
 
“I found myself through the artistic process and creativity. I could tell my story to myself in a different way,” she says.  

That experience led her to open courageous heARTS, an arts-focused youth center at 4164 Cedar Ave. S. in Minneapolis. As a part of a soft launch this summer, the center has special drop-in hours for open studio use. The center is also helping plan community art projects in conjunction with the Standish Ericsson Neighborhood Association (SENA).

Walz, who has long wanted to open a youth center of her own, says courageous heARTS is a “space that’s safe, where youth can express themselves and get the gunk out,” adding, “It’s better if those feelings come out on paper or with words, whatever the case may be.”

The center is a place to explore those possibilities. “Maybe someone is an untapped writer or a dancer or a musician,” she says. “It’s not about being good at it, just doing it.”

Also, youth can learn from each other. “They don’t have to separate themselves,” and they can develop leadership skills through the youth advisory board and other opportunities, she says.

The space, formerly a convenience store that had sat vacant for some time, is an ideal location, according to Walz. She wanted to find a space in the neighborhood, where she lives, “so it would be community-based in the true sense of it,” she says. Plus, the neighborhood doesn’t have a lot of youth programming. “It was about making art and space accessible."

The center will probably occupy the 1,800-square-foot space for a couple of years and then move to another location, since the landlord has other plans for the building in the longer term. “I felt like it would be a good window to get the center off the ground,” Walz says.

At this time, she’s still looking for partners and volunteers to help make the place a success, while an Aug. 1 fundraiser includes a screening of the documentary “Inocente” at the Riverview Theatre.

“Anyone that’s interested we’d love to hear from,” whether that has to do with art or office work or another skill, she says. “We need a lot of helping hands to get off the ground. We want to be around for a long time. That’s the goal.”


Source: Lindsay Walz, courageous heARTS
Writer: Anna Pratt

Urban Growler Brewing, a small packaging microbrewery with a taproom, is in the works for a vintage brick building in St. Paul's St. Anthony Park neighborhood. The place is hosting an open house this Friday and Saturday.

Although the 6,200-square-foot warehouse space still has a ways to go before the brewing can happen, the event is a chance to learn more about Urban Growler or to become a member, according to brewer and co-founder Deb Loch.

Loch, whose business partner is Jill Pavlak, says the women-run brewery’s mission is to "bring people together through beer." Also, they want to make craft beer more accessible to women. Although beer brewing is male-dominated, long ago in the brewing tradition, “It was a woman’s job,” Loch says.

Right now, the brewery is fundraising to build out the space. That includes installing the right equipment for the brewing process. Besides that, “We have to make sure the structural integrity is there to hold the weight of the tanks,” she says.

The brewery plans to make traditional and specialty beers, while its “Plow to Pint” series will include local ingredients. “We’ll be partnering with local farmers and bringing out their story,” and some customers might act as “specialty suppliers,” too, she says. The brewery will have a “kitchen where a small but delicious menu of food that goes with beer will be made. We hope to have a local twist for that as well."

Its ambiance will be “warm industrial,” according to Loch. “We hope it becomes a community gathering spot,” she says, adding, “We envision this area becoming the next Northeast Minneapolis,” brewery-wise.  

The place joins a growing list of local breweries springing up in the area, including Bang Brewing Co., Burning Brothers Brewing and Surly Brewing Co. “Craft beer is growing like crazy in the Twin Cities,” she says.

She hopes that the neighborhood “becomes a destination for people outside the area. “There’s a lot of interest in beer out there and there’s plenty of room for everyone.”  


Source: Deb Loch, co-founder and brewer, Urban Growler Brewing
Writer: Anna Pratt

Before the Kosama Body Transformation fitness studio moved into Laurel Village, a downtown Minneapolis apartment complex, the 4,000-square-foot space had been vacant for over a decade.  

Jake Madrinich, who owns the local Kosama, says, “I was able to come in and work with the landlord, who wanted there to be an amenity for people in the building.”   

From the outset, Madrinich had been looking to bring the fitness studio to the neighborhood because “This area is starting to change and grow,” he says. Plus, the central location offers “great visibility,” and it’s easy for downtown commuters to stop in before or after work.

Even though gym memberships tend to wane in the warmer months, Kosama, which opened six months ago, continues to grow its clientele, says Madrinich. The fitness studio stands out for its group dynamic, he says.

While people work out in a group, their heart rate is being monitored, with a display on a TV. This fosters a healthy level of competition. “Nobody wants to be last on the heart rate monitor,” according to Madrinich.

It may sound counterintuitive, but in a group setting, where everyone is trying to meet various fitness goals, “Self-consciousness goes away and we get down to getting results,” Madrinich says. “We’re helping people with lifestyle changes and making fitness a part of their life.”

“Even though it’s in a group setting, we provide individual feedback,” he says, adding that people receive an email afterward telling them how many calories they burned along with other infoirmation.
 
Beyond fitness, “I really hope we can become a focal point within the community, where people can get to know their neighbors,” Madrinich says.

Source: Jake Madrinich, owner, Kosama
Writer: Anna Pratt

The recently formed Women on Bikes Saint Paul, an advocacy group that aims to get more women biking around the city, is looking for a full-time community organizer to lead the way. (See the job posting here.)

The group hopes to fill the position by early July, according to Jessica Treat, the executive director at St. Paul Smart Trips, its umbrella organization.  

The idea behind the initiative is to “advance the political will in St. Paul” as it pertains to bicycling. “We want to turn out a coalition of women, including women with kids, for bicycling issues,” she says. “It’s about livability.”

Treat is a co-founder of the group along with Amber Dallman and Samantha Henningson. All of them are avid bicyclists. 
 
The idea for the group came out of a grassroots process to get a bike boulevard on Charles Avenue, from North Aldine Street to Park Street. It was a success, but it took quite a bit of effort to turn out women and families. “That was eye-opening to the three of us involved,” Treat says. “We said, ‘what would it take to turn out that voice repeatedly?’”   

The “percentage of women on bikes is a lot lower,” than it is for men, she says, adding, “There are real reasons for that.”

A recent survey from St. Paul Smart Trips of over 200 women in the city showed that safety is a major concern when it comes to biking, especially for those with children, she says. “It’s not that there aren’t sympathetic men, but women with families are a powerful constituency that needs to be heard."

The group’s next step is to pull together a group of spokeswomen from each city ward, who would be responsible for connecting with local politicians. Soon, the group will also organize an advisory body of some sort, to “help us decide what to focus on,” she says.   

Some areas of the city have little to no bicycle infrastructure. “We need to have some conversations about trade-offs, what are the priorities,” she says. “We need to start talking about why biking and having a bike-supportive city is important to business in St. Paul, and attracting talent and young people.”  
 

Source: Jessica Treat, executive director, St. Paul Smart Trips
Writer: Anna Pratt

The annual Twin Cities Bike Walk Week stresses the benefits of biking and walking as an alternative to driving a car.

The daily festivities, scheduled from June 9 to 15, include all kinds of community gatherings, food, entertainment, prizes and more. (For a full schedule of events, check out the Bike Walk Week website.)

Every year, a number of local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses and other community groups come together to make it happen, according to Nick Olson, a Bike Walk Week planner for the city of Minneapolis. Their mission is to “incentivize and encourage biking and walking,” especially people who are new to the idea, he says.

Among the week’s highlights are a series of commuter “pit stops,” at multiple places in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The “pit stops,” which take place at peak commuting hours, give people the opportunity to get their bike tuned up or to ask questions about routes, Olson says. Free bike lights will also be given away. “It’s a very direct way to get people out,” he says.

On Wednesday, breakfast will be offered for free to those on bike or foot at the Greenway Building on the Midtown Greenway at 28th Street in Minneapolis. “I recommend it. It’s a popular one,” says Olson.

Thursday is Bike Walk to Work Day. The celebration, which will happen at several locations throughout the day, includes a wide variety of vendors plus a couple of speakers. They’ll talk about “how biking and walking are a key part to communities and to business,” he says.  

People who pledge to bike or walk at least once within the week will be entered in a drawing to win a new bike or transit fare for a year, according to the website. People can sign up to take the “commuter challenge” individually or in teams.    

Besides showing people how to get from point A to point B, the activities demonstrate “how biking or walking can be tons of fun.”

Source: Nick Olson, Bike Walk Week event planner, city of Minneapolis
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Buttered Tin, a new bakery/restaurant, is slated to open in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood later this month.

The place has a $10,000 Kickstarter fundraising campaign underway, for which it needs $2,000 to reach its goal by next week. 

Jennifer Lueck, who co-owns the place with her business partner, Alicia Hinze, says the money will help get the bakery up and running. She hopes the campaign gets community members to take ownership of the bakery/restaurant right away, too. 

The pair focused on this neighborhood because “We knew it was a need. There’s nothing like it in that area,” Lueck says. Lowertown “seems like it’s right on the verge of exploding with light rail and the new stadium coming. It feels like a good time to get in and establish ourselves,” early, she says.  

The space previously housed a sub shop but had been vacant for a number of years. It had a good floor plan already, with space for 45 seats inside plus outdoor dining for 20 patrons. “We didn’t have to do a major renovation or construction,” Lueck says.

Instead, they mainly reimagined the look of the space, and created an open kitchen, so people can see the food as it's prepared. "We think it’s important that people feel connected to their food,” she says.

The partners want the café to be a comfortable neighborhood gathering place. “We feel we’re contributing to the neighborhood,” Lueck says. To create that feel, the space has ceiling tiles, dark wood, “a cool floor that’s really durable,” and reclaimed marble from the historic Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, which makes for a unique countertop. “Aesthetically, it’s traditional or classic. That’s what our aim is for the interior."

It’s been fun to see the elements she and Hinze picked out a year ago falling into place, says Lueck. “We’re so excited. It turned out beautifully,” she says.

Source: Jennifer Lueck, co-owner, The Buttered Tin
Writer: Anna Pratt  

Youthlink, a nonprofit organization that provides services to homeless youth, is installing an original sculpture outside of its drop-in center in Minneapolis’s North Loop neighborhood.

The organization's Youth Opportunity Center is planning an official unveiling for the sculpture this summer, while the basic installation process will wrap up later this month, according to Francis Roen, director of development for YouthLink.

Youthlink worked with a partner at the center, the Kulture Klub Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that engages homeless youth through art, to come up with the piece. The sculpture is a creative solution to the center’s lack of “a visual marking for the space,” which is somewhat tucked away from view, she says.

Considering the fact that the center tries to help youth navigate various resources, “We were missing a key piece of that, as navigators, if we didn’t have a clear marking for this building,” she says.  

The resulting piece from local artist Randy Walker, titled “Filling the Void,” is a permanent steel frame that allows for constant change. Like many other artworks at the center, the piece was “created hand-in-hand with young people,” she says. Youth at the center and other local artists will continue to put their stamp on it through time. The frame allows for everything from video projection to living vegetation, according to center materials.  

In a prepared statement, Walker adds that the piece is symbolic in that “It provides a foundation, framework and opportunity for those who use it. It is full of potential. It is all about what you do with it.”

Ultimately, Roen hopes the piece conveys that the center is “youth-friendly and a place they can go to receive help.”  
 

Source: Frances Roen, director of development, Youthlink
Writer: Anna Pratt

Doodle Bird Design + Gifts, which opened on May 10 in South Minneapolis, focuses on locally made goods.

Owner Kristin Knych, who is also a graphic designer, says she went that route because, “There’s so much talent out there, that I wanted space to showcase it.” She sells everything from soap to pottery from artists around the state. The store’s inventory also includes crafts from Knych, who describes herself as “a graphic designer by day and an avid crafter by night.”

To prepare the 550-square-foot space for the shop, she tore down a wall, installed new flooring, and gave the walls a fresh coat of paint.

The store’s look is “eclectic DIY chic,” she says, adding that most of the fixtures and furnishings came from thrift stores, garage sales, and the like. Many pieces have been repurposed. For example, one shelf is made out of old ladders.  

Behind the storefront shop is Knych’s graphic design studio. In the past, she ran her graphic design business out of her home.

She happened upon the space by chance. Having driven past it many times, Knych, who lives nearby, knew the area had plenty of foot traffic. “I think it’s a very active corner. It has a strong neighborhood feel,” she says. “I felt it needed a little bit of retail to make it more competitive” with other areas around the city.

On a broader level, “I just want to promote local artists as much as I can,” she says. Having a shop that sources local artists and crafters is “a way to make more people aware of the talent we have around here.”


Source: Kristin Knych, owner, Doodle Bird Design + Gifts
Writer: Anna Pratt

Shelly Campbell, a local photographer, is interested in faces, especially those in her neighborhood.

That’s what inspired her to start her ongoing project “Faces of the West Side,” in late 2010. “I realized with the West Side, I don’t need to travel. I have the world at my fingertips,” she says.   

Her color portraits of people in the neighborhood are part of a rotating exhibit at Jerabek’s New Bohemian, a coffee shop in St. Paul.

The photos reflect the neighborhood’s diversity, showing people of all ages, ethnicities, and income levels. Some are recognizable characters in the neighborhood, while others are people she might not have met otherwise.

Often, people get referred to her. At times, she’s had to find someone to act as an interpreter for non-English speakers. She’s found that “It’s a great way to get to know a lot of people on the West Side,” she says, adding, “I feel privileged. I never thought I’d get to meet or interact with so many.”  

At this point, she’s even seeing some of the same people coming back for another photo, and she tries to document how they’ve changed.

In general, she looks for “images that say something about people,” and seeks the “real person.”

At the coffee shop, she usually displays about 10 photos at once, including some that have been blown up to poster size for more impact, she says. She changes the photos on a quarterly basis, so “Folks have four months of fame,” she says, adding, “Everyone comes in and sees them and they get all excited. The kids get a real trip out of it, which is fun.” In the end, “The photos belong to everyone in the room because it’s them,” she says.

Soon, she plans to apply for grant money to expand the project. “I’d like to do some interviewing or even audio recording during photo shoots,” she says.
 

Source: Shelly Campbell, photographer
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Midtown Greenway, a 5.5-mile biking and walking trail in South Minneapolis, is too dark in some places.

This was a key concern raised by the Midtown Greenway Coalition’s crime-prevention task force, which recently studied the Greenway’s safety, according to Soren Jensen, who leads the organization.  Jensen says the coalition’s Trail Watch, a volunteer group of bicyclists who patrol the Greenway nightly, tries to keep an eye on things.  

But the group has been working to go beyond that to ensure safety along the path. “We wanted to see if we could come up with more ways to keep crime low in the Greenway,” he says. That’s what led the organization to form the crime-prevention task force a number of months ago.

To evaluate conditions along the Greenway, the task force members, armed with light meters, went out one night “measuring the amount of light in the corridor,” he says.  

In the end, they found too many shady spots, going by national trail standards, he says. Of particular concern are “very dark stairs and ramps,” at some points along the trail.

Although the Greenway has a low crime rate, "When there have been late-night muggings, they have tended to be near the dark stairways.”

To get a better handle on the situation, the task force produced a Google map; it’s an internal document that pinpoints the worst places along the Greenway, in order of priority, he says. Soon, the coalition hopes to see more lighting installed and signage that lets people know they’re under surveillance on the Greenway.

“We have prioritized about 15 sites so far, mostly between Interstate 35W and Hiawatha Avenue, and will continue to roll out our rankings of dark spots as the city moves to fix them,” he says.


Source: Soren Jensen, executive director, Midtown Greenway Coalition
Writer: Anna Pratt

ReUse Minnesota, a new nonprofit trade association, promotes reuse as a more efficient alternative to recycling. The group hopes to keep items that are still useful in circulation, and not in landfills, according to ReUse information.

Anna Arkin, the organization’s coordinator, says the membership-based group is for “any sort of business that expands the life of a product through reuse or repair,” or an individual or nonprofit agency working in this capacity.  

While most people recycle, reuse is “preferred environmentally,” she says. Reuse can shrink one’s ecological footprint by cutting down on “new purchases which require virgin raw materials and energy,” a prepared statement reads.

Thrift stores, secondhand bookstores, electronics repair and consignment, and architectural salvage shops are just a few examples of businesses working in this area, Arkin says.

However, there’s a lack of consumer awareness on this front, she adds.

Although the association has already begun recruiting members, the group is hosting an official launch event on June 26 at the Summit Brewery in St. Paul.

The group is an outgrowth of the local chapter of the national Reuse Alliance. In 2012, members decided to create a separate organization “to focus on promoting and facilitating reuse at the state level, rather than the national, level,” a prepared statement reads.   

Already, the organization has pulled together a variety of local businesses, government organizations, and individuals dealing in the reuse, rental, or repair sector. ReUse Minnesota is also working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to document the impact of reuse. “The goal is to make reuse happen, so we create a stronger reuse community,” Arkin says.


Source: Anna Arkin, coordinator, ReUse Minnesota
Writer: Anna Pratt

In April, the St. Paul City Council gave the go-ahead to the parks department to enter into a development agreement with Frogtown Gardens.

The agreement lays out the next steps to make the five-acre urban agriculture demonstration site a reality. Frogtown Gardens “will encourage residents to start their own backyard gardens and will promote healthier eating habits,” a prepared statement reads.

The land for the garden once belonged to the Wilder Foundation, which has since moved its offices. St. Paul is working with the Trust for Public Land to acquire the property this year, according to St. Paul information. In the meantime, the trust is trying to raise the $3.45 million needed to buy the land and to jumpstart development and programming.

Mike Hahm, who leads the parks department, says the development agreement with Frogtown Gardens helps flesh out those details. “It’s the next important step to bring this thing to life,” he says. Frogtown Gardens speaks directly to a need for parkland in the neighborhood, a need that the parks department identified a while ago.

As a part of the project, more than half of the property will become public parkland. “We’re super excited about the project. It hits on so many priority issues for Frogtown and St. Paul as a community,” Hahm says. It goes without saying, he adds, that parkland “is important for the community for so many reasons.” Parkland contributes to sustainability and livability, both of which are big goals for the city, he says.

Another part of the acreage will be used for growing fruits and vegetables. “The city is facilitating the partnership between the Frogtown Gardens group and the public, which will own the land,” he says.

Frogtown Gardens is an example of a community-driven effort. “It was the community that raised its hand repeatedly and said it had a vision for this property as a park and an urban agricultural center,” Hahm says, adding, “It caught the attention of various officials and captured the imagination of others in the community.”


Source: Mike Hahm, director, St. Paul Parks
Writer: Anna Pratt

Last week, Megabus, which offers low-cost intercity travel by bus, rolled out a St. Paul bus stop.  

The stop, which can be found in the Midway Shopping Center’s parking lot, is only blocks away from the coming Central Corridor light rail transit station on Snelling Avenue.

Mike Alvich, the vice president of marketing and public relations for Megabus and Coach USA, says St. Paul is a natural connection for the bus service. “We always felt that St. Paul was a place where we should have service,” though the company began conservatively, he says.

Megabus, which began in Britain and expanded into the U.S. in 2006, also has a downtown Minneapolis bus stop, near the Metrodome and a Hiawatha light rail transit station.

Megabus operates in 100 U.S. cities out of a dozen hubs nationwide, with Chicago being its first. “It’s been very exciting,” Alvich says, adding that the company just reached a milestone of 25 million customers.

In general, Megabus attracts an interesting mix of people, including small groups taking day trips, businesspeople and seniors, with students and young professionals accounting for the largest group of riders. “St. Paul fits the mold for us,” he says, adding, “The community fits the demographic.”  Additionally, Greyhound buses have discontinued service in St. Paul, he says.

While the Megabus service helps connect the city to other areas across the Midwest, “For those traveling into the city, it adds to the city’s economy,” he says. Part of the draw of Megabus is that fares can be as low as $1, while the buses are “state-of-the-art double-decker buses with wifi outlets and electrical outlets.".

Something he’s found from the company’s social networking activity is that “we provide more than just transportation. We provide the ability for people to do the things they love."


Source: Mike Alvich, vice president of marketing and public relations for Megabus and Coach USA
Writer: Anna Pratt