In January 2020, Maya Santamaria sold her Odd Fellows building at 2709 E. Lake St. to Adenal Investment of Woodbury for $2.8 million.
In May, the building was destroyed by arson during the riots after the police slaying of George Floyd. Santamaria, who still had businesses inside including the La Raza radio station, decided to move it to Richfield.
Adenal Investment couldn't be reached last week to discuss the future of Odd Fellows. Hennepin County valued the property, before the riots, at $2.1 million for tax purposes.
Allison Sharkey, executive director of the Lake Street Council, said Adenal's principal is trying to figure out how to economically redevelop. That's somewhat the story for dozens of old buildings damaged or destroyed along E. Lake between Nicollet and the Mississippi River.
A couple blocks from the Odd Fellows building, Cub Foods and Target have rebuilt, to the praise of neighbors who appreciate new stores that include merchandise that appeals to increasingly diverse customer bases. Those larger companies had insurance and plenty of capital to finance their welcome redevelopments.
That's in shorter supply when it comes to many other damaged or destroyed buildings.
The city and the Lake Street Council have invested around $15 million to help dozens of owners of damaged buildings and small businesses survive the double whammy of the 2020 pandemic and riots that have derailed up to a quarter of local small businesses, particularly in hospitality and personal services.
A welcome addition arrived last week when LISC Twin Cities, the nonprofit financier that has invested $900 million since 1988 in affordable housing and commercial developments in targeted neighborhoods, announced a $30 million fund to help stabilize areas damaged in the riots.