Future uncertain for some 50th and Penn businesses following building damage in February water main break

The Italian restaurant Terzo and the Sparrow Cafe won’t reopen in a southwest Minneapolis building that was significantly damaged by a water main break in February, requiring months of repairs.

Another business, the Paperback Exchange, plans to reopen but it’s not yet clear where or when that would happen, owner Andrew Hersey said Saturday.

The building’s owner, Carroll Peterson, and several GoFundMe sites supporting Lynnhurst neighborhood businesses that were damaged said insurers and the city’s claims process have left businesses unable to afford the space.

Peterson said Minneapolis officials told them that they could possibly receive compensation from the city, since the city’s water main caused the damage.

“So we dutifully did all that, and at the end they said, ‘No, we’re not going to pay you one dollar,’ ” he said. “We were really disappointed. ... We thought that there was a process for compensation and there isn’t.”

A spokesperson for the city was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

So far, all but one of the upstairs apartments have been repaired and leased. But only one of the four businesses that occupied the building, Theisen Renovation, a home remodeling company, plans to definitely return to the space.

“We have an expansion of the deli underway currently that was in process before the event happened, and I have three kids, new family,” he said. “Terzo lived a great life, and I think it was just a great time for our family and our organization to close that chapter and start looking forward to what’s next.”

Jasper Rajendren, co-owner of Sparrow Cafe, shared the cafe’s decision to close in a recent post on a GoFundMe page, but didn’t specify a reason for closing beyond cost.

“It’ll be of little surprise that at this point Sparrow cannot re-open,” the post read. “From the politics of blaming the city, to un-cooperative insurance or underinsured, the damage done is well outside of what insurance has covered for our business.”

Cafe owners could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Hersey, whose family owns the Paperback Exchange, said they will be working to reopen either in Peterson’s building or at another location. He said they’ve received support and encouragement to continue in business from their customers.

Peterson said he’s grateful to the city’s Public Works Department for its help with repairs and hopes to see them completed soon so the commercial units can be leased.

“We’re starting to get interest,” he said. “So we’re happy. We’re still looking for the right tenant.”