urbanMSP

Things you never imagined you'd see: a church proposing to build housing on their parking lot at 39th and Chicago/Elliot
https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/download ... liot%20Ave

Nice.

For what it is worth, a UCC church in Saint Louis Park at 37th St. and Alabama Ave proposed affordable apartments on the parking lot. The Elmwood neighborhood had a lot of rage. But the city approved it.

This could be a trend!

Also, there's St. Olaf's proposal to build a pair of 25-story affordable buildings on their parking lot and pocket park. Three proposals sounds like a trend to me! Now if it could extend to Northeast - there's sooo many giant church parking lots close to high-frequency bus routes over here.

This is great to see, a block from George Floyd Square too

It looks like they're also planning to renovate the church itself and repurpose it to add 20 units. I've seen great repurposed churches in cities like Cleveland and Philly. I am intrigued, however, that the congregation still calls this building home. I wonder if they have plans to move, or if the future tenants will be waking up nice and early every Sunday to the sound of organs playing!

There was also a church at 31st and Fremont in South Uptown that was approved for adaptive reuse about a year back, so but I believe the church itself had been vacant for some time. Haven't heard updates on that one in a bit.

Opening the packet (or Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/JKHnt1VPvavtZdLm6) it looks like the housing in the "church" is actually in the shorter to the right not in the taller worship space.

Yeah, agreed, Northeast has lots of room for this to occur. I kind of get it with churches and their large parking lots, they're not taxed. The ones that boggle my tiny mind are banks, surely sitting on money in the form of under-used drive through lanes and parking spaces.

Opening the packet (or Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/JKHnt1VPvavtZdLm6) it looks like the housing in the "church" is actually in the shorter to the right not in the taller worship space.

Yeah, agreed, Northeast has lots of room for this to occur. I kind of get it with churches and their large parking lots, they're not taxed. The ones that boggle my tiny mind are banks, surely sitting on money in the form of under-used drive through lanes and parking spaces.

There are also a couple units in the main building’s basement!

As church attendance falls pretty much across the board, more and more churches are starting to re-assess their real estate. As tempting as it often is to sell the property off, I like it when churches often try to take an active role in redeveloping their property with an eye towards a social mission.

On another note, the built form district for this property is insane. Why was this designated Interior 2? The side is close to a future D Line stop, wherever it is eventually located, and across from a park. It's a great location. The 3901 Elliot Ave building could easily be six stories without looking out of place. Instead, the small and short project proposed is already going to need a variance for FAR.

Two churches partnered about 10 years ago to redevelop the parking lot at W. 28th Street and Lyndale Ave S. They built affordable housing atop ground level retail, which now includes the World Street Kitchen and Buffalo Exchange. IMO this is one of the best developments to take place in Uptown.

On another note, the built form district for this property is insane. Why was this designated Interior 2?

Minneapolis 2040 was pretty conservative in a lot of places.

Nice.

For what it is worth, a UCC church in Saint Louis Park at 37th St. and Alabama Ave proposed affordable apartments on the parking lot. The Elmwood neighborhood had a lot of rage. But the city approved it.

This could be a trend!

Elmwood was just doing it's Elmwood thing. Gotta respect the consistency. Probably the most vocal citizens of SLP.

Elmwood was just doing it's Elmwood thing. Gotta respect the consistency. Probably the most vocal citizens of SLP.

Tied or 2nd place after Minikahda Vista for sure.