On March 1 the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey approved an amended Concept Plan for redeveloping the 48-acre Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) site along the riverfront in North Minneapolis with a first phase that will include affordable housing, mixed-use development, riverfront parkland and an outdoor music performance venue.
The Concept Plan approval comes after an extensive multi-year community engagement process that has guided a vision for the site, which is home to a former barging terminal that closed in 2014. The City owns the terminal site and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) will oversee future parkland. United Properties, THOR Companies and First Avenue Productions make up the development team working with the City, MPRB and the community on the redevelopment plan.
Highlights of community benefits for Phase 1 of redevelopment include: Housing development with 300 to 500 units, including 40 percent affordable units; one mile of public riverfront access and 19.5 acres of parkland overall (to be completed in multiple phases); mixed-use development with space for 10 to 20 businesses focused on community-ownership models, office space and a hospitality component; and an outdoor music performance venue with free community programming and extensive job training opportunities.
To ensure an even more inclusive planning process that includes input from a diverse set of community stakeholders in the creation of the Coordinated Plan, both the City and MPRB are establishing community committees that will be actively involved in that planning.
The City’s newly established 15-member Community Planning and Engagement Committee (CPEC) will work with the project team on community engagement, refinement of the Phase 1 plan and visions for future development phases. A more detailed redevelopment plan (the Coordinated Plan) for the UHT site will be presented to the City Council in about a year, after additional community engagement, testing and refinement of the Concept Plan elements, environmental review and financial analysis.
Learn how to apply for appointment to the CPEC: The MPRB’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will work concurrently with the MPRB on park-related component of the UHT planning, including aspects of the infrastructure and private developments that impact the adjacent park areas. Applications for appointment to serve on the CAC opened on March 4 and remain open until April 14, 2019 (with mailed/delivered paper applications due April 12). Go to ci.minneapolis.mn.us/boards/openings/UHT/CPEC.
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