Might the East Phillips urban farm proposal catch a break this time?

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Once again it’s crunch time for the dream of the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis to have a solar-powered urban farm with affordable housing on the site of an abandoned warehouse known as the Roof Depot. Since first envisioned by the neighborhood more than a decade ago, the concept has had many near-death experiences as the city prioritized using the site to expand its public works yard — a use that would bring additional traffic and air pollution to a part of the city already experiencing an abnormal death toll from asthma, cancer and other environmentally linked diseases.

Since the City Council first defied the known wishes of the neighborhood in 2016 by voting 9-4 to purchase the site for “municipal operations,” it has gone back and forth over its next steps as council membership has changed. As recently as September 2022 the council voted to move the public works project forward and sought bids to demolish the structurally sound warehouse. Only after a court injunction to delay demolition and an outpouring of support for the urban farm from throughout the city was demolition prevented. And then suddenly came a much-needed rescue package from the Minnesota Legislature that would combine $5.7 million from the 2024 bonding bill with funds raised by the neighborhood to enable the purchase of the property from the city. All was now well in East Phillips.

Or so it seemed, for when the bonding bill was finally passed at the Legislature’s closing deadline of midnight on Sunday, May 19, the official clock showed that it was actually 12 o’clock and 30 seconds on the morning of Monday, May 20. The bill had missed the deadline and was now dead, putting the onus back on the neighborhood to come up with the promised, but now missing, money.

In response, Minneapolis first agreed to a postponement of the closing date on the property sale — but only for 60 days. The deadline became Sept. 13. Would the city extend the deadline again? Will the county chip in with the missing money? Will all the parties involved be able to reach some grand agreement?

If the neighborhood’s dream can be realized, the Roof Depot warehouse will be repurposed into a vibrant neighborhood hub that supports public health, solar-powered affordable housing and local businesses including an indoor farm. Future tenants of the building have already signed letters of intent to move in. Moreover, the recent closure of two adjacent industrial sites creates the potential for a renaissance of one of Minneapolis’s most diverse and environmentally stressed neighborhoods.

Following the most recent City Council meeting on Thursday, there is renewed reason for hope. The council unanimously voted to extend the closing deadline for one year giving the neighborhood time to raise the needed funds — whether from the Legislature or elsewhere. Mayor Jacob Frey still needs to sign the revised purchase agreement, and other challenges remain, but it now looks like East Phillips’ dream has some breathing room.

Allan B. Campbell is a former member of the Minneapolis Community Environmental Advisory Commission.