There is tremendous progress to report. Over the past several months the project has received zoning and land use approvals, as well as all of the permits required to build the new store. And recently, the project financing was completed, which allowed the co-op to purchase the last remaining parcel of land from the City of Minneapolis. This purchase coincided with the reassembly of the former parcels into one new property address, 317 38th Street East, the home of the Friendship store.

In the weeks ahead we plan to complete the demolition and utility work. During that time the site will be cleared of debris and the concrete footings and foundation for the new building will framed and poured.Work began on the site in August after two of the reusable houses were moved to new locations in the neighborhood and two were removed. The site plan calls for a new east-west section of alley at the southern end of the property. This section of alley was completed in September to allow the existing alley outlet at 38th Street to be permanently vacated. Demolition of the church building has started, and is being carried out in coordination with utility companies to ensure existing service lines are permanently rerouted around the perimeter of the property without disruption of service to their customers.

Thank you!
There are numerous people and organizations to thank for their support and for their help in getting this incredibly complex project to this stage: the Bryant and Central neighborhood groups, the Carrot Initiative, immediate neighbors, Sabathani Community Center staff, the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, city staff, Councilperson Glidden and her staff, HIRED staff, co-op Board of Directors and staff, the project team, the lender team, co-op owners for investing in the project, and the list goes on. Thank you everyone!