The Rise Up Center, slated to occupy the former YWCA at 2808 Hennepin Ave. S., has yet to rise. The YWCA announced the building’s sale on its website on March 28, 2024. The sale was originally scheduled to close in June 2024, but there have been repeat ed delays. According to a March 18, email from President and CEO of the YWCA, Shelley Carthen Watson, they “are steadily moving toward a closing date.”
For now, the building remains vacant on a nearly two-acre lot with no published timeline for the renovation to begin. The 60,000 square foot regional hub is intended to offer pre-apprenticeships, jobs and training in green energy and other sectors. Led by BIPOC organizations, it aims to train 3,000 Minnesotans annually while promoting economic prosperity and net-zero carbon standards. The projected total development cost is $23.86 million.
The group planning to buy the building, Tending the Soil, is a coalition of nonprofits and unions, including UNIDOS MN, the New Justice Project, Minnesota Training Partnership, Unite Here Local 17, SEIU Local 26 and the Building Dignity & Respect Standards Council. We contact ed UNIDOS MN and Tending the Soil for this story but were unable to reach representatives.
Cryptic Politics
We also asked Ward 7 Council Member Katie Cashman for in formation and were directed to contact UNIDOS MN. State Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-61, provided the following:
“These are important goals representing core Minnesota values, which is why last session we authorized $9 million to help support the project. The coalition will need to secure other revenue sources to complete the project. The funds are not yet under contract. The project is being carried out by Tending the Soil, so questions about the timeline would best be directed to them.”
The City Council awarded the Rise Up Center $274,500 at its March 14 meeting based on a re quest for $213,415 from a Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Tax Base Revitalization Account grant. The funding is designated for "the installation of a vapor mitigation system and for the abatement of lead-based paint and asbestos-containing mate rials." This grant is one of several the group has received prior to it owning the building and beginning renovations.
The lack of progress and communication on this project is worrisome.
A flier from the Minnesota House states there will be a Green Training Pre-apprenticeship Pro gram, a Community Safety Specialists Apprenticeship and a High-rise Window Cleaning Apprenticeship.
According to promotional materials, in addition to training, the regional hub will feature a first-of-its-kind worker cooperative for immigrants, an on-site childcare center and affordable, cooperative multifamily housing with high-quality homes near what their promotional materials claimed was a rapidly gentrifying Lake Street. The vision also includes offices and space for the public to gather.
The state designated $9,651,000 in Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) funding for the project last year. The appropriation was signed by Governor Walz on May 24, 2024. Nine million dollars is designated to “design, redesign, renovate, construct, furnish and equip the Rise Up Center, a building located in Minneapolis, that will house a workforce development and job training center, administrative offices and a public gathering space.” For broadband internet, $651,000 is designated. Tending the Soil is trying to raise matching funds through private foundations and donors.
A current bill, House File 72, could complicate the project. The bill would prohibit nonprofit organizations that receive state fun ding from using that money for political activities. As of March 3, the bill was under review by the Senate Elections Committee. Its intent appears to be stopping the practice of circular funding, in which nonprofits and other organizations lobby the state for fun ding and then use that funding to organize campaigns on behalf of the legislators who directed grants to them.
At this stage, a reassessment of the project, its timeline and its funding are necessary.
The site, an important location in Uptown, remains in limbo as a complicated mix of city, state and private funds are pieced together to keep the project afloat.
Residents are understandably confused about how much of their tax dollars are funding the training, meeting and housing hub, and whether its services might overlap with those provided by Hennepin County.
Part of the reassessment must include long-term costs. For example, if the nonprofit buys the building, what tax revenue will it generate? If Tending the Soil and its various groups move in, how will they be funded in five or 10 years? According to house testimony by Tending the Soil Executive Director, Cat Salonek Schladt, the building itself will be a cooperative with various organizations paying rent or owning sections of the facility.
It’s possible that the hub will reach its operational potential and train 3,000 people a year. To achieve that, it would likely re quire at least 100 full-time staff. By contrast, South High School educates about 1,300 students annually.
The more readers and residents learn about this project, the more questions arise about the planning behind it. Considering its public funding support, a community meeting with a detailed presentation by Tending the Soil and the elected officials supporting the project is a reasonable request. It would be useful to know what has happened and what is planned for the location. If the community is expected to support the Rise Up Center, a presentation would help solidify that support and address community concerns.
