About a week ago I spoke to Dean Rose, the positive-minded owner of Broadway Liquor who is determined to take the "lemons" of tornado damage and turn those lemons into Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Rose took me back to his office and showed me plans for the new, bigger, improved and super dooper Broadway Liquor megaplex...
According to Rose, he is still gathering public input to guide future development, even though he has a pretty firm idea what the building itself will look like. The question is what businesses will exist in the first floor retail space.
Above the retail space there will be "working wage" apartments.
Like the recent Gateway Lofts project, which seems to have gone well so far, there will be underground parking available. Rose is still trying to find which mix of businesses will work in the building. He is not sure if the market exits in North Minneapolis for a high end wine and cheese shop and, of course, everybody talks about "sit down dining" on West Broadway but the question is how to make it SUCCEED? What kind of businesses will be in this future space, THAT is still an open question.
Rose says the old "Bean Scene" building, (which also existed briefly as "Fire and Ice," home of the allegedly famous Philly Steak and Lemonade deal) will be demolished "before the end of the year." This strikes me as an ambitious prediction and yet I won't be shocked if Dean Rose could actually pull it off.
Later in the day, driving past the old Bean Scene building I thought, "Look at it, fill your head with its memory, for its days are numbered."
20 comments:
In terms of how/why we don't yet have sit-down dining on Penn and Broadway: The buzz I've heard about the Five Points building is that Catalyst wanted "50th and France" rent/lease rates for their space. Well, if a business is going to pay for 50th & France, they will expect a market that resembles that area in terms of income, safety, livability, accessibility, etc. I love the area enough to live in the middle of it, but Penn and Broadway ain't no 50th & France.
I'm still not sure what the answer is, but it doesn't involve packing more non-profits along Broadway and it doesn't involve exorbitant rent either.
Funny how one month you trash Broadway Liquor, then a few months later you write a glowing article like you're Rose's best friend.
Obviously he knows to keep his enemies closer than his friends.
How about a cycle/ski shop? A LOT of people ski and tube in Theo Wirth during the winter and a growing number of people are biking in the non-winter seasons, so it will serve both residents and other MPLS people coming to the area. Businesses need to appeal to both local and greater MPLS residents to succeed and counter the image of North as a commercial no-man's land.
How about a hardware store? How about an affordable gift shop? How about a Wireless World? How about a Pharmacy? Shoe repair? Footwear Store? How about a ladies apparel shop? How about we agree that everyone get out and vote for Barack Obama so we do not all end up with a two-faced transparent braindead asshole for president. Good Day.
How about an outreach location for providing government services? North Minneapolis is the greatest consumer of services our fine local, state and federal goverments offer. Why not consolidate a few of these offices in the same building that the customers purchase their other goods from such as adult beverages? This way we could ensure they would sign up and receive the benefits.
Hardware Store -- Got one
Wireless World -- Got one
Pharmacy -- Got one
Shoe Shop -- Got one
Brain-dead ashole president -- Had one last term!
I think it's spelled *asshole.
I actually invested some time and thought into my suggestion of a cycle/ski shop. I see the rest of the posters didn't take it seriously at all. No wonder nothing changes here, the majority of residents are just morons and deserve nothing more than 1 day-a-week human hair shops and kentucky fried slop.
I am all down for a recreational shop. Northside needs a local bike shop. With a coming greenway project it would be perfect. How about a brewpub too. Sit down, have some nice eats with a hoppy beverage. I would live to see some improvements to the Penn & Broadway.
So according to 5:43 the bike shop on glenwood ave. really improved that area. care to buy a 500 dollar bike? brain dead 11:07 is just the type repubicans love. you are all a joke
Ski shop? Ski shop? Bike shop? Who the hell skis? Time and thought? Nothing changes here? Morons? You must be white!
You are saying that because you use the "N" word on a regular basis but are afraid to say it to anyone other than a fellow white coward because that is the way whites of your type act. These are facts. ASHOLE1107@543
9:58, so I guess you are one of these black people who believes only white people can participate in winter sports. Since you think you can label me I'll label you. Did you know you can ski at Wirth for a few bucks a day? That you can even rent skis there for a few more? Tubing is even less? Are bikes forbidden too?
As for the rest of your comments, I don't use that word, I don't secretly talk racist shit people, that's ridiculous. Reading these message boards is frustrating because they are usually nothing but resistance and for that I'll take back the moron part, but that is all. I pointed out two major retail issues on Broadway: storefronts that are open one day a week and cater to a very small number of people and no decent place to eat. If you want to interpret that as racism that's your problem, not mine.
I'm thinking a northside Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Foods and Gifts. They're upscale, yet practical, and have thrived forever on a pretty tough stretch of Lake Street that is similar to West Broadway. I really would like someplace close-by where I could satisfy my craving for folk-art painting and pickled herring, along with a Dale sweater once-in-awhile. And,if Broadway Liquor could stock a number of different brands of aquavit.....
Thank you 12:06 AM!
I am tired of the attitude in North that some things are only for "white people" and some things are only for "black people." Now THAT is racist.
Check this out:
http://www.blackskiinc.org/
Its in DC! There ain't even snow in DC! Maybe we need to stop limiting ourselves. Maybe?
Please go to You- Tube and watch:
Facebook E-thug Gets Beat Up By Uncle. This is what the hell i'm talkin' bout.
I am mysterious 9:58 and i am a white guy. Did i mention i was black? NO. Did i have to? No. I will let other whites show their dumb asses consistently by assuming such. Now, all of you phony fuckers retreat to where ever you are hiding and admit YOU ARE AFRAID OF BLACKS. bUNCHA' CHICKEN SHIT PUNKS, NOW GO SKI YOUR ASS DOWN LOWRY AND oVER THE NOW OPEN BRIDGE.
I guess 9:58 has never heard of the Jamaican bobsled team and 1206 seems to be worried about their underlying racist thoughts with the mini apologetic guilt trip.
I frankly believe that alot of folks cannot stand having their chain yanked on anything dealing with reality.
9:58, no you didn't mention you were white, you just implied you were NOT by point out that I MUST be white and then made a bunch of stupid assumptions, including characterizing me and also what people may or may not be interested in based on their ethnicity, which I never did. I pointed out we have Wirth, and why not try to make it easier for everyone here to use it by getting a functional ski and bike shop. Then I got pissed because the other posters turned this into some fucktard political rant by denigrating everyone here as a welfare recipient and making Obama jokes. If people aren't serious about generating ideas for our neighborhood, we'll get nothing but the same shit that lines Broadway, which are fried food joints and wig shops. Not everyone who lives here wants to eat that everyday and do we really need anymore wig stores?? Whatever.
There is nothing in the world more irritating than people who try to shut down arguments with such pathetically cheap tactics such as race bating. Anon. 9:58 and 6:50, I suggest both of you apply some more effective reading skills and reread Anon. 5:43 post. While certainly a bit heated, there is nothing about the statement that singles out blacks specifically. It was up to both of YOU to insert the assumption that moron = black, and Anon. 9:58 trying to be the one turning this into a race issue. If you like a ski shop you must be white? Yeah, that totally isn't stereotyping at all. The only posters here that are racists are the two of you, and you both need to knock the garbage off and let the adults in this room have a reasoned discussion about what to do to improve the neighborhood for everyone. Deal with you own obviously transparent prejudices somewhere else where a low IQ is more tolerated. Thanks.
Returning to the point at hand, Anon. at 5:43 was clearly venting her frustration towards comments that were disintegrating into cheap political jabs and random comments. I don't blame this person. I think having a sports shop with an emphasis on biking/skiing would be an excellent idea, for the reasons already stated. There is a lot of opportunity for biking (in summer) and skiing (in winter) around Theodore Worth, and it is both an opportunity for play for residents, and play for (and incoming revenue from) people outside of the neighborhood.
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