The building at 2633 Minnehaha Av. is the latest to be considered for a future home to the Minneapolis police Third Precinct. (Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has announced yet another site for a future Third Precinct police station.

The building at 2633 Minnehaha Av. was first proposed three years ago, when the city was ready to lease it as a temporary station. But the plan fell apart amid threats to the building and opposition from some on the City Council.

Now, Frey said, the owner is willing to sell.

The development is the latest in a protracted process as the mayor and council have struggled to agree on a permanent home for officers who patrol the southeastern portion of the city. In 2020, their previous station was stormed and set ablaze after the murder of George Floyd by an officer stationed there.

Calling it an "exciting development," Frey outlined the news in an email to council members Friday. The council has been preparing for meetings next week that were expected to lead to a debate, and perhaps a definitive vote, on other sites.

In all, city officials have explored at least 29 locations, but only a handful have risen to the top. At various times this year, Frey has backed three sites as apparent or stated favorites. Each has either been rejected by a divided council or slowed by delays.

It's unclear if the fate of the revived proposed site will be any different.

Low cost, quick turn

Frey said in his email that the Minnehaha Av. property, including a building and parking areas, can be acquired and developed into a police station for $14 million. He said officers could move in within a year.

That's about as inexpensive, and faster, than any other options offered to the council.

It compares to the following options:

Building from scratch on a city-owned vacant lot at 2600 Minnehaha Av. would cost between $22 and $26 million and take about three and a half years. This was Frey's most recent preferred option — until Friday — and one the council was preparing to potentially vote on next week.
Renovating the previous station at 3000 Minnehaha Av. would cost an estimated $14 million and take a year and a half. The building is charred but structurally sound. While Frey supports this option, the council voted overwhelmingly in July to never allow police to return there.

"It is time to draw this Goldilocks story to a close," Frey wrote. "Staff have now found the site that is just right."

The 2633 Minnehaha Av. site also has the space to "accommodate the future Community Safety Center," Frey wrote. That's a reference to a vision for a facility that would house police and other essential city services, such as mental health crisis responders, that have come into favor as the city reimagines policing and public safety. However, no one has offered specifics on how such a facility would operate.

Second chance

Since the uprising following Floyd's murder, officers have operated out of a series of makeshift quarters downtown. The desire to return them to the areas they patrol has persisted.

That idea was on track as far back as the summer of 2020, when city officials scouted 26 locations for at least a temporary solution. They landed on 2633 Minnehaha Av. and were prepared to sign a lease with the owners.

However, when word of the plan got out, graffiti calling for the deaths of officers was scrawled on the building and, according to police, a threat was made to burn it down.

One community group, Seward Police Abolition, announced protests at the building and at an address where they thought the owner lived. Negotiations between the owner and city then broke off.

In his email, Frey said of the 2020 situation: "The deal fell through due to opposition from the previous council and threats made against the owner and his family. I am grateful the owner has had a change of heart."