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In its efforts to inspire the revitalization of downtown — the heart of our city — the Star Tribune Editorial Board shined the spotlight on the North Loop as an example of a vibrant, successful urban neighborhood ("Amid downtown, North Loop shines," Aug. 27). Hear! Hear! Now, what lessons can we learn from that experience to help us revive the downtown core?
As one of the pioneer developers — I launched my first project in the area in 1987 — I would offer my long view of what makes the North Loop special. The spirit of the neighborhood is palpable. It goes beyond its historic building stock, handsome new buildings, transportation crossroads, entertainment venues, dining, storefront retail, rocking ballpark and swelling population.
First, behind the scenes, it started with public-private partnerships championing smart community building. Early on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) convened developers eager to pursue the opportunities for loft living. 2010 Partners brought together Target Field stakeholders (Hennepin County, the Twins, Target, the city, developers, businesses and the neighborhood) to provide a forum and springboard for neighborhood transformation. The North Loop Neighborhood Association, from its inception, became a community board like no other, cutting through bureaucracy in the public approval process and unleashing building projects that would have languished or died in other neighborhoods. These public-private partnerships, with strong leadership from the business community, have pushed hard to make good things happen.
But, most important, long before a catchy name for the area took hold, there were the artists. Artists often find shelter and space to create their work in places others leave behind. There were plenty of underutilized and vacant warehouses in the North Loop. And the price was right.
We converted two North Loop industrial buildings to loft living. In each project, we followed the inspiration of artists who had created magical spaces in cavernous warehouses on a shoestring and helped us see the legion of possibilities. Artists had dubbed the area North of the Warehouse District, NoWare. It was cool. No one took it too seriously. And when we opened the doors there was a stampede of buyers. It seemed everybody wanted to live there.
The arts have long been an important tool in economic and community revitalization. In Minneapolis, the North Loop was preceded by the Warehouse District (sparked by artist studios and galleries popping up in the 1970s), followed by the now burgeoning Northeast Arts District.
