urbanMSP

Dinkytown is imperiled by redevelopment plan

Article by: MATT HAWBAKER
Updated: June 2, 2013 - 5:50 PM

Wayward redevelopment threatens the character of this eclectic district near the U (and later, one near you).

Dinkytown, USA, the unique historic small-business district in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood near the University of Minnesota, is targeted for destruction.

The Opus Development Company, part of the Rauenhorst Trusts, wants to tear down The Podium, The Book House, House of Hanson and other small businesses in order to build a six-story upscale “dormitory-style” complex affordable to well-off university students.

To do so, the developer needs Minneapolis City Council members to approve an arguably illegal “spot zoning” change from “C1” (small-scale neighborhood commercial uses) to “C3A” (higher-density, mixed-use commercial and housing) for a roughly half-block area of Dinkytown.

[...]

Several landmarks are considered historic including Vescio's Italian restaurant, which opened in the 1950s, The Book House, and the House of Hanson grocery store. The former Marshall-University High School on the corner of 14th Avenue and 5th street was closed in 1982 due to low enrollment and was purchased and converted into the University Technology Enterprise Center (UTEC) for startups.[3] The Chateau co-op built their brutalist-style 22-story apartment co-op in 1973 at 13th Avenue Southeast and 5th Street Southeast.[4] Many of these landmarks are being threatened -- or, as in the case of the UTEC, have already been demolished[5] -- by a wave of development[6] led by the Opus development firm as part of the University's plan to attract more wealthy students to live on campus instead of remaining in its traditional role of a land-grant university whose mission is to serve all Minnesotans regardless of income.