Counterpoint: Fantasy planning again for Minneapolis at the Roof Depot site?

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The Sept. 7 article “Vision for Roof Depot gets a reprieve” missed important points about this proposal for an indoor urban farm, for which the Minneapolis City Council approved a one-year funding deadline extension.

The Roof Depot property is a 230,000-square-foot warehouse and a half-block-long parking lot adjacent to the city’s Hiawatha Yards, home to street repair, sewer and stormwater maintenance, and water system maintenance shops. The city bought the Roof Depot property as expansion for the crowded Hiawatha Yards in 2016.

A community group, called the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) and led by Dean Dovolis, opposed the expansion. Instead, the group proposed to buy the Roof Depot property. Today, its website (epnifarm.org/vision) says plans for it include an indoor fish farm, affordable housing, a solar farm on the roof, a jobs and skills training center, a youth development center, community gathering spaces, a community kitchen, retail space, space for homeless people, and a creative arts studio.

The city agreed in 2023 to sell the Roof Depot to EPNI for $11.4 million. To pay for it, EPNI received $2 million from the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 and was to receive another $5.7 million in 2024 if EPNI raised the remaining $3.7 million from private sources by August. EPNI got a loan for the $3.7 million but too late to secure the $5.7 million. Instead of moving on, the city extended the deadline for this deal another year, giving EPNI even more time to raise the $5.7 million from other sources, including possibly city money (see tinyurl.com/rd-terms).

This delay is not free. So far, the city has spent more than $18.7 million on this project (see tinyurl.com/rd-fiscal). It currently costs the city $100,000 a month to carry the property (according to an email from Barbara O’Brien from the city of Minneapolis to Council Member Linea Palmisano). A one-year delay means the city will spend another $1.2 million on this project minimum. Funds are coming from the Water Fund. The sale would generate $11.5 million, plus the state provided $4.5 million, leaving a deficit in the Water Fund of $3.9 million that presumably would be paid from water fees. It is highly unusual to use water revenues for development projects, and this may violate the city charter.

EPNI has proposed that one-third ownership would be by East Phillips residents with an income of 30% or less of the region’s median income. One-third would be tenants, who presumably would become owners simply by renting, and one-third would be outside investors. This model has never been used, and it is not clear if it could be legally implemented.

According to the group’s website, the only actual business that has committed to the project is Blue Water Farms, which proposes to raise walleyes indoors and then use the runoff for hydroponic gardens. The Welch, Minn.-based business is a startup, with no actual implemented indoor fish farms. Dean Dovolis is president of the board for Blue Water Farms, so presumably he would benefit financially from a company where the costs of the building were paid primarily by the public and that tenants would be given ownership.

EPNI raised about $650,000 from 2021 to 2023 (see tinyurl.com/propublica-epni). The majority has gone to professional fees, primarily for design. You can see the design on the EPNI website (tinyurl.com/epni-funding). The design firm is DJR Architects, which is owned by Dean Dovolis. One has to assume that DJR Architects would also do the design and plans for renovating the building, netting Dovolis’ business hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

EPNI does good work promoting community and environmental stewardship. But there are deep and concerning questions about this project. A lack of actual business or developer involvement. Co-locating an industrial fish farm and affordable housing and other incompatible activities. An unclear and unproven ownership model. A cost of more than $20 million and thousands more every day. Using the Water Fund for economic development. And the multiple and conflicting roles of Dovolis and how he profits from the project.

Minneapolis has been prone to fantasy planning, sold by aggressive activists. It would appear this is another example. But this time, residents are literally paying for it.

Carol Becker, of Minneapolis, is a college professor and data analyst. For 16 years she was a member of the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation.