ST PAUL, Minnesota — The former Sears building has been vacant for nearly five years. Now plans are underway to redevelop the site into a community hub space.
This summer, Asian Media Access (AMA) bought the property for $8.2 million. They are collaborating with Asian American Business Resilience Network (AABRN) on redeveloping the site.
The nonprofits envision transforming the site into a place where people work, play and live.
"We wanted to be focused on helping the community. What can we do to make a difference and make the community better versus trying to make money and have a financial income off the space," said John Yang, AABRN executive director.
At the end of September, AMA released concept photos courtesy of the City of Gangneung, Korea.
They hope to redevelop the Sears building into an innovation hub with a sports and digital arts focused charter school, a wellness center for health modalities research, business developments, IT and food enterprise training. They also would like to see an event center, food court, 3D museum, Zen garden and kids' zone.
Yang said they also would like to incorporate housing and office space, adding at least five buildings onto the lot.
"It's all the communities. We're working with Frogtown, Rondo, all types of backgrounds, cultures. We're an Asian nonprofit but we have partnerships with different ethnicity groups so this is all about the community," Yang said.
Their current partners for the Sears' redevelopment can be found, here.
But they need more investors and partnerships. Yang said they are looking at all their options for funding but he estimates it could take $10-$20 million dollars just to redevelop the Sears building.
Architects and engineers are currently evaluating the building to see if it can be restored which would save them millions of dollars.
Because of its proximity to the Minnesota State Capitol, the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board will need to approve any plans.
Yang said they hope to make a public announcement on the project in November and start the redevelopment process next year.
"It's exciting. I think a lot of people don't know yet but the impact that we'll have for the community, around especially the State Capitol, is going to be for generations to come," Yang said.
As a way to raise awareness, they are hosting a marketplace with food and retail vendors in the Sears lot. Yang said it's part of their vision to have something similar in the building one day.
The next Saint Paul Marketplace is happening this weekend on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 425 Rice St. in St. Paul.
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