Minneapolis Downtown Council reveals newest 10-year plan to revive the city’s core

The next decade could bring downtown Minneapolis a marquee outdoor ice rink, a Michelin star, consistent skyway hours and thousands more residents, if the Downtown Council’s 10-year plan comes to fruition.

The business organization unveiled its vision Monday for downtown through 2035, including ambitious goals to transform Minneapolis’ urban core to meet new demands and desires. That starts with filling the gaps office workers left when remote and hybrid work became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our city is at a pivotal point, and this plan meets the moment,” Minneapolis Downtown Council President and CEO Adam Duininck said in a statement. “This plan represents more than just aspirations for the future. It’s a blueprint for making downtown the premier place to live, work and celebrate over the next decade.”

Proposals in the 131-page “Downtown by Design” report range from massive redevelopment aspirations — including the transformation of the riverfront post office — to more modest improvements such as the removal of pavement and grating around trees on Nicollet Mall.

Their timelines, progress and feasibility also vary widely: While some projects, like the redesign of 1st Avenue N., are already underway, other new ideas like the outdoor ice rink have few concrete details.

The plan is perhaps the most extensive in the string of recent strategies aiming to reinvent downtown Minneapolis. Last month, Mayor Jacob Frey released the city’s plans to approach downtown revitalization, and the nonprofit Minneapolis Foundation late last year published a report suggesting ways to transform core neighborhoods.

“Downtown Minneapolis is in the midst of an exciting transformation, rising as the north’s top destination for arts, sports, dining, shopping and business,” Frey said in a statement. “Our city deserves a downtown where innovation and bold ideas become everyday reality — and the 2035 Plan is helping drive that change.”

The strategy is organized around four main pillars: neighborhood cultivation, foundational safety, hassle-free systems and irresistible vibe.

The Downtown Council joins the developers and civic leaders saying more mixed-use spaces are needed to increase vibrancy across downtown. This means expanding housing options and commercial offerings in all neighborhoods, according to the report.

Downtown is currently home to about 58,000 residents, a number which the council hopes to eventually grow to 100,000. The plan set a goal of converting 3 million square feet of commercial space into housing and also suggested searching for ways to make downtown more family-friendly, with amenities like an indoor playground.

The council wants to double down on Minneapolis’ recent efforts to take advantage of its Mississippi riverfront, emphasizing support for Dakota community efforts to reclaim land near St. Anthony Falls and the redevelopment of the post office.

“It may take a literal act of Congress” for the latter proposal to come to fruition, the report said. “If you look at how we have transformed literally every other area of the central riverfront to retrieve it from post-industrial decline, it’s obvious this is the missing link.”

The council also voiced support for plans to make Nicollet Mall a pedestrian-only thoroughfare and said it will build upon its Chameleon Shoppes program that pairs underrepresented business owners with vacant storefronts.

With the stated goal of a downtown where people feel free from danger and discrimination, the council said it wants to continue building an emergency response network that relies on a well-staffed police force and alternative resources.

A key to this approach is the new safety communications center located in Minneapolis police’s First Precinct downtown. Residents, workers and visitors can report issues to the center if they’re unsure whether 911 is the right response, and dispatch will figure out which agency is best suited to respond.

The center is already accepting calls at 612-332-1111, and a text option will soon be available, according to the report.

The plan also emphasized a need for more support and programming specifically for homeless individuals and youth downtown.

In the spirit of making downtown easier to navigate the council is proposing city stakeholders once again consider coordinating skyway hours and management. Unlike St. Paul, where skyways were built by the city, Minneapolis’ skyways are mostly privately run — a system that’s led to a hodgepodge of hours, rules and security.

The council floated the idea of smart screens to help wayfinding through the 9-mile system. It also emphasized a need to continue investing in public transportation and bike infrastructure downtown.

The plan also wants to make it easier to do business downtown, advocating for more streamlined permitting for redevelopment projects and events downtown.

Events and venues like the proposed skating rink would aim to give people more reasons to visit downtown when flagship events aren’t happening.

That’s not to say downtown’s current mainstays will be forsaken. The report said: “We have every intention of continuing to build on that major venue success, including any facility changes necessary to keep the Timberwolves and Lynx downtown.”

The report said projects like the reconstruction of 1st Avenue N. will create a more pedestrian-friendly corridor through downtown’s entertainment district. It also said Minneapolis is poised to more fully embrace winter through events like Holidazzle and the Great Northern Festival.

The council said it plans to pick up the long-discussed mission to bring Minnesota a Michelin star, a task that may involve annual funding to bring the guide’s reviewers to town.

And it’s not all entertainment-focused: The council’s report said it plans to partner with the economic development nonprofit Greater MSP to recruit more businesses downtown.