On April 1, Tending the Soil formally purchased the former YWCA properties at 2820 and 2828 Hennepin Ave. for $4.25 million. Skeptics are concerned that the nonprofit groups planning to convert the building into a training hub for low-wage and BIPOC workers have no prior experience managing a project or budget of this scale.
The facilities comprise 80,000 square feet and will house training areas as well as office space for the nonprofits that make up the Tending the Soil coalition: Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), United Renters for Justice, New Justice Project, SEIU Local 26 and Unidos MN. LSE Architects was selected to design the new Rise Up Center. The firm will have a busy year — it has also been chosen to design the city's new Election and Voter Services center at the site of the former Third Precinct police station.
The East Isles Neighborhood Association inquiries about building security were answered by a Unidos MN representative. The security firm Securitas was hired to guard the facility starting on April 4. Guards are stationed seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to help prevent vandalism and graffiti during those hours.
A capital campaign to raise $9 million for the renovation is ongoing. That amount matches what the state has already appropriated for the project. Renovations are scheduled to begin in late 2025 or early 2026.
