In February 2006 Mayor Rybak in his speech “Reweaving the Urban Fabric: Creating Great Spaces for a Great City,” called on Minneapolis citizens to join him in building the future of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), celebrating their 150th anniversary, responded by establishing the Great City Design Teams; teams of architects, urban designers and developers to work with community groups to develop a vision of urban design that addresses a gap in their community. Twenty groups applied for a Great City Design Team and five communities were chosen — one was the Cleveland neighborhood.
At Penn and Lowry Avenues there is a large gap in the urban fabric ripe for redevelopment. Historically this intersection has supported small businesses providing goods and services to residents in a walkable community. The northwest corner is in the Cleveland neighborhood and is proposed to the Great City Design Teams. This corner houses several small businesses, but those will be gone after Hennepin County acquires the properties for the redesign and reconstruction of Lowry Avenue. Once the current small businesses are relocated and the Lowry roadway reconstruction is completed in 2008, the intersection will lack some of the goods and services that are needed and desired by the local community.
The Lowry Avenue reconstruction offers an excellent opportunity for redevelopment of Penn-Lowry: the roadway and sidewalks will be widened; bike lanes, green spaces and new pedestrian level lighting will be added; the avenue will become pedestrian friendly and returned to its historic function. Lowry Avenue will also serve as a route for the Northwest Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that Metro Transit and Hennepin County are developing for travel between downtown Minneapolis and Maple Grove and points north. Two BRT stations will be incorporated into the reconstruction at Penn with one station on the southeast corner and one on the northwest corner. The reconstruction will also open the corner to Cleveland Park, which offers the opportunity to connect the park to the corridors and increase park visibility.
Cleveland residents envision a vibrant community space. “Parkside” development will serve as the gateway of green space leading to Cleveland Park with a mixed-use building fronting the corner and the BRT station. Much of the surface parking would be replaced with green space. The building will be no more than four stories and will have commercial/retail space on the first level, possibly housing some of the businesses currently at or near the corner. Additionally the commercial space would draw businesses desired by the community such as a bakery, coffee shop or casual restaurant. The second through fourth floors offer residential opportunities, a mix of affordable and market rate housing and the possibility of live/work space for artists. The residential component will add the density required to support the retail in an area that is predominately single-family homes. Cleveland seeks an energy efficient building with a green roof, if possible, or other means of dealing with storm water runoff. Principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) should be incorporated into the design. The neighborhood desires to marry the community assets and characteristics with progressive building and design ideas.
Many of Cleveland’s goals for this development are compatible with the AIA’s 10 Principles of Livable Communities, which are: Design on a Human Scale, Provide choices, Encourage Mixed-Uses, Preserve Urban Centers, Transportation Options, Build Vibrant Public Spaces, Create Neighborhood Identity, Protect Environmental Resources, Conserve Landscapes and Design Matters.
The team for Penn-Lowry is developer Wayne Olson and architect Raymond Dehn. The team will be introduced to the community at a meeting on March 26, 7 p.m. at Lucy Craft Laney School. This is the first step in the process of creating a design that reflects the community’s vision for the site and all community members who have an interest in the development of this site are welcome. The team will explain the rest of the process and invite community participation in a workshop to be held in April. There will be another community meeting in May at which the final design will be presented.
The Great City Design Team will be of great assistance to the Camden community by providing a visual representation of their vision so that we can move toward the realization of preserving the urban landscape and creating a community focal point.