City Council approves Penn Lowry project
By: John Helgeland 03/01/2006
An Aldi grocery store may soon be coming to the southeast corner of Penn and Lowry, following a February 9 Minneapolis City Council vote. The vote provided the City’s Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) the authority to negotiate with Wellington Management on its proposal to build 27,000 square feet of commercial space on the southeast corner of Penn and Lowry. Additionally, Wellington indicated that they would remodel 14,000 square feet of existing retail.
Wellington is one of two developers who responded to a Request for Proposal issued by the City in May 2005. Over the next six months CPED will work with Wellington to address community concerns through the review process. Wellington was ranked above the other developer, Central Community Housing Trust, by the eight-member project review team (consisting of two members each from the Cleveland, Folwell and Jordan neighborhoods, and from local business).
The Jordan Area Community Council issued a recommendation that echoed the majority decision of the project review team. Having ranked Wellington higher, the community and the project review team provided the City several recommendations to be incorporated into the Wellington proposal to align the development with the community’s goals for the area.
Among the discussion items is increasing the height of any buildings along Penn and Lowry Avenues to have a two-story façade, as well as incorporating housing along Oliver Avenue. Also included was a request that Wellington consider Union Liquor as a tenant in the development on the southeast corner; however, the licensing aspect of such a move has not yet been completed. The request to accommodate Union Liquor as a tenant should not be to the detriment of meeting the six-month time of performance approved by the City Council.
With the nod of the City Council, Wellington knows they can now assemble the financing for the project, and work to incorporate the recommendations of the community and City. In addition to some of the elements discussed by the community, Wellington will work to get zoning approval for the development, which may require some changes to the proposal to ensure that the development meets the City’s guidelines for urban design.
It is expected that updates to Wellington’s proposal will be made available for neighborhood review through the Jordan Area Community Council and that a public hearing will be held when the matter comes before the Zoning and Planning Committee, prior to final action from the City Council, approving the land sale and the final plans for the development.