While other businesses exit, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo invest in north Minneapolis

While several retailers have closed up shop and left north Minneapolis, Wells Fargo is moving in and plans to move a branch there.

"We will relocate the Olson Highway branch closer to the heart of north Minneapolis, where the community is rebuilding and has expressed the need for a Wells Fargo branch," said company spokeswoman Staci Schiller.

Wells Fargo has not yet announced a location for the new branch, but it is not the only bank investing in north Minneapolis.

U.S. Bank recently remodeled a location of Operation Hope, which provides free financial coaching services, adjacent to its branch location in north Minneapolis. The location on W. Broadway is part of the Hope Inside program.

The news is welcome in north Minneapolis, where banking options are thin. Huntington Bank, which acquired TCF in 2021, has a branch location at the Cub Foods store on W. Broadway.

Operation Hope is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that has partnerships with an array of companies, including many banks across the U.S.

"They have an expertise in serving low- to moderate-income communities. We've been working with them for a couple of years," said Kaori Yamada, senior vice president of financial education strategy for U.S. Bank.

The W. Broadway U.S. Bank branch was severely damaged in the 2020 riots following the murder by police of George Floyd. It reopened in June 2021. U.S. Bank first partnered with Hope at that time.

The remodeling of the Hope space was completed in November.

It's been a tough year for some retailers in north Minneapolis. Aldi closed its north Minneapolis store in February. Shortly after that, Walgreens shuttered its north Minneapolis location.

There was also a scare for the popular Thirsty Whale Bakery on the North Side. It closed on Dec. 3, but will reopen after Alise and Luke McGregor, owners of YoYo Donuts in Minnetonka, bought the business.

"We're delighted that Wells Fargo is coming," said Warren McLean, president of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON).

He added that U.S. Bank is making a "significant long-term investment in north Minneapolis."

The W. Broadway corridor was one beneficiary of U.S. Bank's $15 million Rebuild and Transform Fund, announced in 2020.

Wells Fargo also operates a branch in the Camden neighborhood of north Minneapolis and launched a Hope Inside location at its Minnehaha branch in south Minneapolis this fall.

McLean said that north Minneapolis is drawing investment, led by Black entrepreneurs, but that the wider community is not aware of the projects.

McLean pointed to developer Tim Baylor, a former Vikings player, who started phase one of his $68 million Satori Village project last year. Chase Bank had plans for a branch within Satori but pulled out without explanation this year.

McLean noted that Juxtaposition Arts opened its $12.9 million building in north Minneapolis last summer.

Eden Prairie-based aerospace contractor Ion Corp. has proposed a new factory in north Minneapolis that would cost more than $30 million.