U.S. Bank donates riot-damaged Minneapolis branch to nonprofit developer

U.S. Bank will donate the 2.4-acre site of its riot-damaged branch at 2800 E. Lake St. to a nonprofit developer to build affordable housing, commercial space and a home for cultural organizations.

The multimillion-dollar redevelopment by the nonprofit Seward Redesign will be another significant step in the recovery of the Lake Street commercial corridor that was badly damaged by vandalism and arson in the riots that followed the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

Taylor Smrikarova, project leader for Seward Redesign, said the former bank office will showcase businesses led by people of color and community organizations that will own portions of the four-piece development that will be planned over the next several months.

"Our team is intently committed to ensuring that the U.S. Bank property is lifted up as a demonstration site for wealth creation for communities of color," Smrikarova said.

Reba Dominski, U.S. Bank's chief social responsibility officer, said the bank chose Seward Redesign because it wanted a successful community developer with a history in the adjacent Seward and Longfellow neighborhoods and a commitment to racial equity.

"Our goal is to create a new model for equitable development and demonstrate new ways in which architects can engage and partner with community," said James Garrett Jr., a partner at Black-owned 4RM+ULA, an architectural design firm that will work with Seward Redesign on the project.

U.S. Bank said it also chose Seward Redesign and 4RM+ULA because of "strategic partnerships" with Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS). CLUES and NABS would own and co-develop specific site parcels.

The 2800 E. Lake bank site, which includes the branch and its parking lot and drive-through lanes, was constructed in 1979 and valued at $2.5 million before it was damaged in 2020, according to Hennepin County tax records. Smrikarova said it has yet to be decided whether the bank building will be restored and incorporated into the new development.

U.S. Bank is building a new branch at 919 E. Lake St. and redeveloping its property at 3600 E. Lake St. so the area will still be served with two locations.

Seward Redesign has another mixed-use redevelopment project less than a mile from the Lake Street sire called Seward Commons near the Franklin Blue Line light-rail station. It also has acquired the burned out Coliseum building on E. Lake and Minnehaha Avenue and a smaller property a block to the south for commercial redevelopment and housing.

Erik Hansen, Minneapolis director of economic development, said last month that building permits worth up to $200 million have been obtained since 2020 for redevelopment and construction of damaged commercial properties in the Lake Street and West Broadway corridors on the North Side.

The city has estimated at least $350 million in damage from the May 2020 protests that evolved into riots, with structures vandalized and some set afire, including commercial buildings and the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct headquarters.

The new-construction permits do not include the planned $50 million-plus residential-commercial complex at Lake and Nicollet by Wells Fargo and Project for Pride in Living (PPL), the affordable-housing developer and manager.