PURCHASE UPDATE: East Phillips is ready and waiting
On June 27th EPNI sent the mayor a proposed solution for the purchase of the Roof Depot site. It’s been 28 days and we still haven’t heard anything back.
In EPNI’s original purchase agreement with the City, East Phillips was asked to pull together a total of $16 million for the site, 4x its appraised value of $3.7 million.
Why so much more? The city wanted to reimburse money it spent on controversial demolition plans for the Roof Depot, and to reimburse costs it continues to accrue for holding the building.
In June, when the state legislature unexpectedly failed to deliver a promised $5.7 million to subsidize this purchase, EPNI returned to the negotiation table, offering the city $10.2 million for the site, well above the appraised value.
A month later, we are still waiting on a response.
EPNI has proven that we have the grants, partnerships and plans to bring to life the long-held vision of a community-owned indoor urban farm and resiliency hub, in the heart of Minneapolis.
EPNI has $900K in grant funding to spend on remediation and outdoor farm infrastructure as soon as we can access the site’s parking lot
EPNI has a novel community ownership model drafted by our pro-bono legal advisors and neighbors
EPNI has, as of last week, a proposal from Little Earth Protectors to invest $1 million and become co-owners of this project
EPNI has a growing list of community partners that includes: Cooperative Energy Futures, Fundamenta Capital, Nexus Community Partners, Loeffler and Mortenson, and others.
EPNI has allocated $3.2 million* in our budget forecast for structural renovations, mostly to reinforce the roof to hold a cooperatively-owned solar array that will both power indoor farming operations and offset energy costs for our neighbors.
It’s time to transform this incredible building that the city has let sit empty for a decade into a vessel for fresh food, jobs, joy and overdue justice.
*Estimates made with Cooperative Energy Futures and a contracted civil engineer
