Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/bill-huntzicker/page/3/)
Recent controversies over a teardown moratorium in Southwest Minneapolis and massive development in Dinkytown have highlighted many city residents’ desire to control what’s happening in their neighborhoods. On the other side, many developers criticize the push for limits as “not in my backyard” opposition to progress.
Developer Kelly Doran’s plan to build a six-story hotel in the heart of Dinkytown received a setback January 21 when the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission rejected his three requested demolition permits, pending a review to determine whether Dinkytown should be designated a historic district.Anne Behrendt, legal counsel and spokeswoman for Doran Development at the HPC hearing, said her company will “very likely” appeal the decision to the City Council, which could reverse it to pave way for construction of a 125-room hotel in the four-block business district adjacent to the University of Minnesota.City planner Janelle Widmeier prepared the staff report to the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC), recommending approval of permits to demolish two business buildings at 1315 and 1319 Fourth St. S.E. and a home around the corner at 410 13th Ave. S.E. The business buildings on Fourth Street Southeast house the Mesa Pizza and Camdi restaurants, a tattoo parlor, the Publika coffee shop, and the University LifeCare clinic.Council Member Jacob Frey, who represents the Third Ward including Dinkytown, said that the appeal is a quasi-legal process so he’s not allowed to comment in advance. But, he said, he wants to hear the presentations to the City Council before he decides. He suggested there might be ways to compromise between the developer and the neighborhood, which opposes tearing down existing businesses to build a hotel.This drawing from Doran Companies shows the proposed six-story hotel for the 1315 and 1319 Fourth Street Southeast. Continue Reading
One projected consequence of the major new developments in Dinkytown is that rents for commercial space will increase, forcing out small stores and stimulating the increase of chains, like CVS Pharmacy which is the major anchor of the newest mixed-use building.For more on Dinkytown developments and people, click here.A neglected aspect of this story is that a number of chains have been in Dinkytown over the years and many of them have come and gone.Several friends sat at the counter at Al’s Breakfast recently and made a list of ones we remembered. Here’s a list of those who are no longer in Dinkytown:Baskin RobbinsB. Dalton BooksBest Steak HouseBridgemanBurger KingBuffalo Wild WingsCD WarehouseCheapo RecordsCaribouFanny FarmerHoigaard’sKhan’s Mongolian BarbequeKinko’sNelson’s Office SupplyNational Camera ExchangeRagstockRegisRocky Rococo PizzaSchaak ElectronicsStarbucksVideo UpdateWells Fargo.Dayton’s University Store came and went from Dinkytown long before Southdale’s opened in 1956, leading to the proliferation of Dayton’s stores in suburbs. Sound of Music left Dinkytown before the company became Best Buy.Dinkytown Business Association President Skott Johnson has said that some local owners of chain franchises, like McDonald’s, are actually active members of the local community.Does your memory of chains in Dinkytown agree with ours? Can you think of others? Continue Reading
Sidewalks are shoveled, streets are well lighted, parking is convenient, and people are friendly.Welcome to Dinkytown USA.That’s the image the small businesses in Dinkytown would like to project as you plan activities before or after an athletic event or an evening at local pubs and restaurants – despite developers who have displaced some small businesses in the area.Dinkytown is often celebrated as a place for locally-owned businesses, but lots of chains have operated there over the years. How many can you remember? Click here to test your recall, and add your memories. For more on Dinkytown developments and people, click here.Georgia Sander, owner of Kafé 421 at 421 14th Ave. S.E., said she gets three calls a day from people asking whether she’s still open. Continue Reading
Eleven Dinkytown property owners have organized to attack the proposed small-area plan and any design guidelines or historic designation for their four-block business district adjacent to the University of Minnesota.Dinkytown is often celebrated as a place for locally-owned businesses, but lots of chains have operated there over the years. How many can you remember? Click here to test your recall, and add your memories. For more on Dinkytown developments and people, click here.At the same time, they said expanding the planning district and rezoning it to C3A, “the highest density mixed-use district—is essential for this area.” C3A makes possible the six-story apartment buildings with commercial street-level space – two of which are under construction in the four blocks of Dinkytown and several others being built nearby.Despite eight months of weekly open meetings by the small-area planning group, a letter signed by the individuals organized as the Dinkytown Property Owners Group accused Minneapolis city planner Haila Maze and the Dinkytown Business Association of neglecting their property interests in proposing a small-area plan for Dinkytown, especially in a public presentation November 18 at the Varsity Theater.“To be clear, it is important to point out that the Owners Group is a completely separate entity, with differing viewpoints and perspectives, than the Dinkytown Business Association,” the letter said. “We are concerned that the process thus far is not benefitting from the input of property owners in the district.”DBA President Skott Johnson has said the working group for the plan has met regularly since March and that their meetings have been public and that some of the signers had been notified.Nonetheless, Maze and Johnson agreed to additional meetings to discuss the property owners’ issues and their demand to be listed among the stakeholders in implementing the plan.The plan addresses four major categories: heritage preservation; economic development; transportation and parking; and land use and design. Continue Reading
Skott Johnson lived in the Sigma Nu fraternity house as a University of Minnesota journalism student in the 1970s when he began working for Nelson’s Office Supply on Fourth Street Southeast where the Pagoda restaurant stands today.Dinkytown is often celebrated as a place for locally-owned businesses, but lots of chains have operated there over the years. How many can you remember? Click here to test your recall, and add your memories. For more on Dinkytown developments and people, click here.Johnson, a native of Austin, Minn., found that he liked the big city of Minneapolis and the small-town feel of Dinkytown so much that he stayed after graduation.As Nelson’s closed its Dinkytown store, Johnson, then manager of Nelson’s photocopy and printing department, created his own printing and copying business called Autographics in 1989.Thirty-six years after graduation, 24 years after creating Autographics, and 18 years off and on as president of the Dinkytown Business Association, Johnson will close his shop at the end of this month and return to Austin to care for his ailing mother.His departure could vacate a significant corner in Dinkytown, a four-block business district adjacent to the University of Minnesota in Southeast Minneapolis. His building houses several other businesses and sports an iconic collage, invoking memories of streetcars and Bob Dylan.And Johnson, 59, will leave a bigger gap in the Dinkytown Business Association, which has become strongly identified with him after his many years as DBA president.“It’s really evolved over the years,” Johnson said. Continue Reading
The Dinkytown small-area plan is on the agenda of two groups this week, with presentations on different aspects of the plan to the Marcy-Holmes board of directors on December 10 and to the Dinkytown Business Association on December 12. The Dinkytown Business Association, the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association and the Minneapolis City Planning Department are working on the small-area plan. They held public meetings in September and November at Varsity Theater to solicit public suggestions and reaction.Developers and some other property owners in the Dinkytown area have organized to protest what they claim is neglect of their interests in the creation of this plan. Kelly Doran is now planning a hotel instead of an apartment building and the grocery store that the Marshall project developers promised the neighborhood may not materialize. For details on the development changes, see Dinkytown developers open Pandora’s box: Grocery, apartment building out; hotel and mystery tenant in.Haila Maze, principal city planner assigned to Dinkytown, outlined the issues. Continue Reading
In the continuing saga of Dinkytown development, Kelly Doran is now planning a hotel instead of an apartment building and the grocery store that the Marshall project developers promised the neighborhood may not materialize. These are major changes for two of the three large developments underway in the heart of Dinkytown, the four-block business district adjacent to the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus.As construction continues on two six-story buildings and Doran plans a third, the Dinkytown Business Association, the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association and the Minneapolis City Planning Department are also moving forward with a small-area plan. Developers and some other property owners in the Dinkytown area have organized to protest what they claim is neglect of their interests in the creation of this plan. For details, see Small area, big plan as Dinkytown balances preservation, development.Kelly Doran, CEO of Doran Companies, says he has a purchase agreement to acquire two buildings on Fourth Street Southeast between 13th and 14th avenues to build a six-story hotel where he had earlier proposed a six-story, mixed-use apartment building.“We will have retail space on street level with five stories of hotel above it,” Doran said.Doran said he’s “in discussion” with the businesses in the existing buildings, except the tattoo parlor, whose lease will expire within the year. A couple of the businesses, he said, are thinking of closing temporarily and reopening in his new building.Doran, owner and developer of Sydney Hall at the corner of Fourth Street and 14th Avenue, has defended his record at bringing back previous businesses on the site, even though Erbert and Gerbert’s Sandwich Shop is the only one that remains from the previous building. A bookstore also returned, but it has since gone out of business.The CVS Pharmacy in Sydney Hall, he said, was one of the top-performing stores in Minnesota for CVS. Continue Reading
Some 200 buildings in the Como and Marcy-Holmes neighborhoods may be contaminated with toxic fumes from a chemical used by General Mills in a research center more than 50 years ago.The chemical, trichloroethylene or TCE, has been detected in vapors escaping from the soil and could seep into the basements of homes, potentially causing various cancers and damaging immune systems, according to officials from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Health Department.UPDATE 12/8/2013: What’s new in the Como neighborhood / General Millls / TCE pollution story? Almost a month after the community meetings reported in this article, dozens of homes have shown problematic levels of TCE, two class action lawsuits have been filed, and testing continues. Click here for more. The two agencies mailed notices to residents, called two public meetings and asked residents and building owners to provide access for contractors to sample fumes in their basements.“I’ve lived here for 40 years and raised my two boys here,” said Rhona Leibel, who lives near Fairmont and 19th Avenue Southeast in the Como neighborhood. “One of my concerns is whether the MPCA knew about these dangers earlier. Why are we hearing about it now? Continue Reading
When Gov. Wendell Anderson, a former Gopher hockey star, introduced the new University of Minnesota President C. Peter Magrath around the athletic department in 1974, he started the day with breakfast at Al’s in Dinkytown.The governor said Magrath should start the day at Al’s as he did as a student athlete. Their visit to athletic fields included a run to work off the calories.Last summer, Tom McDonald, an attorney specializing in international law and former ambassador to Zimbabwe, returned to Al’s.“This place got me through law school,” said McDonald, who graduated in 1978. “I try to come here every time I’m in town. I love the food, the atmosphere, the people. I’ve brought young lawyers when we’re here for business meetings.”McDonald ate blueberry pancakes and bacon at Al’s 14-stool counter, while a chauffeur waited at the black Lincoln in front. Continue Reading