The North Loop — the long view

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In its efforts to inspire the revitalization of downtown — the heart of our city — the Star Tribune Editorial Board shined the spotlight on the North Loop as an example of a vibrant, successful urban neighborhood ("Amid downtown, North Loop shines," Aug. 27). Hear! Hear! Now, what lessons can we learn from that experience to help us revive the downtown core?

As one of the pioneer developers — I launched my first project in the area in 1987 — I would offer my long view of what makes the North Loop special. The spirit of the neighborhood is palpable. It goes beyond its historic building stock, handsome new buildings, transportation crossroads, entertainment venues, dining, storefront retail, rocking ballpark and swelling population.

First, behind the scenes, it started with public-private partnerships championing smart community building. Early on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) convened developers eager to pursue the opportunities for loft living. 2010 Partners brought together Target Field stakeholders (Hennepin County, the Twins, Target, the city, developers, businesses and the neighborhood) to provide a forum and springboard for neighborhood transformation. The North Loop Neighborhood Association, from its inception, became a community board like no other, cutting through bureaucracy in the public approval process and unleashing building projects that would have languished or died in other neighborhoods. These public-private partnerships, with strong leadership from the business community, have pushed hard to make good things happen.

But, most important, long before a catchy name for the area took hold, there were the artists. Artists often find shelter and space to create their work in places others leave behind. There were plenty of underutilized and vacant warehouses in the North Loop. And the price was right.

We converted two North Loop industrial buildings to loft living. In each project, we followed the inspiration of artists who had created magical spaces in cavernous warehouses on a shoestring and helped us see the legion of possibilities. Artists had dubbed the area North of the Warehouse District, NoWare. It was cool. No one took it too seriously. And when we opened the doors there was a stampede of buyers. It seemed everybody wanted to live there.

The arts have long been an important tool in economic and community revitalization. In Minneapolis, the North Loop was preceded by the Warehouse District (sparked by artist studios and galleries popping up in the 1970s), followed by the now burgeoning Northeast Arts District.

In the end, the editorial considers the "intangible qualities that make the area compelling." Where does all the energy and excitement come from? How do we capture it?

My advice would be to follow the artists. The arts are the heart of our city. Young and old, artists find new and unique ways to look at a world constantly changing and seemingly out of control. We keep saying we're in a transformative moment. Let's seize the moment and take a leap.

For one, animate vacant storefronts and commercial windows with artist studios and performance spaces, providing more eyes on the street and entertainment for pedestrians. Enlist the best in the arts, including homegrown Artspace — one of the preeminent arts organizations in the country — to bring us together. The effort would need to be curated and achieve scale. Private businesses should lead with new money.

I'm not sure what artists would make of the state of downtown today other than it would almost certainly be a different take than our conventional civic leadership. Given what artists have inspired in the North Loop and elsewhere, I think it's worth a try.

Chuck Leer is a real estate developer. His North Loop projects include the Guthrie Lab Theater, Minnesota Opera Center, 801 Washington Lofts and Tower Lofts. He also co-founded 2010 Partners.