MINNEAPOLIS — Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday unveiled the latest Downtown Action Plan, an effort to juice up a Minneapolis core business district still dealing with the effects of the pandemic. Those included the loss of thousands of office workers, the surge in lawlessness during that time, and shuttered storefronts.
As Frey spoke to the media, he was flanked by leaders of public and private agencies that will partner with the city to help carry out the plans to make downtown more of a destination.
"It's not good enough simply to have a plan. We must execute that plan for the good of the city," Frey told reporters.
The mayor made his announcement at B Suite, a new space for gatherings and art displays inside the historic Young Quinlan Department store building. Frey cited it as an example of the types of projects the Downtown Action Council will foster, giving new life to old spaces.
Frey said an essential element of converting older building into new uses - including changing commercial buildings into residential ones - will be cutting red tape so that projects can be expedited.
"If you're looking to have an experience, downtown is the place you should come. You shop, you go out to eat, you go see a play."
The plan envisions a Nicollet Mall makeover that makes it more pedestrian-friendly, with the ultimate goal being a pedestrian-only zone once the city and Metro Transit can find a way to reroute buses from that street.
Frey said he sees Nicollet Mall as a regional attraction that will, in essence, serve as a gateway to the entire state.
"A place of pedestrian activity where you walk down the street and there's a thousand tastes and smells and sounds and people all packed in one block."
The Downtown Action Plan also looks to the warehouse district as the future regional entertainment hub, tapping into its proximity to Target Field and Target Center.
The vintage US Post Office along the Mississippi River remains in the crosshairs for many downtown enthusiasts who'd love to see all or part of it gone so that Nicollet Avenue can be reconnected to the river.
"And the US Post Office, I commit to helping them see the wisdom of taking down that butt-ugly parking ramp that blocks the river from Nicollet Mall," City Council Member Michael Rainville remarked. "I'm sure we can find a compromise."