From grain storage to self storage? Hiawatha elevator future in limbo

Above: County officials Mark Chapin and Jeff Strand in front of the elevator in 2014, prior to the auction (Renee Jones Schneider).

This grain elevator can't catch a break.

The property at 41st Street and Hiawatha Avenue had the unusual honor of being auctioned off by Hennepin County in 2015, after its previous owners stopped paying taxes on the vacant property. It went for just $23,000.

But the new owner's Euro-inspired plan to retrofit it with apartments has proved infeasible. So the 1930s-era elevator, which hasn't stored grain since 2008, might become a self-storage facility.

A proposal before the city's planning commission next week would rezone the property from high-density residential to light industrial. Its high-density residential zoning is due to its proximity to a light rail station.

Representatives for the owner told the city in their application that reuse for housing "would require large (probably excessive) public subsidies." Demolition is also expected to be prohibitively expensive.

Now the owner needs cash to maintain the site, pay property taxes, and ward off vandalism and trespassing.

But they haven't given up hope on other future uses, including potentially a climbing wall, a coffee shop, or a microbrewery.

The owner, Adam Mackie, did not return a message seeking comment.