Features

Exposing/reusing
existing structure saved
money and creates an
open, welcoming feeling

New location, identity
for Neighborhood
institution

Attained LEED GOLD certification

 

Seward Co-op and Deli

Projects in our Seward Neighborhood are especially rewarding. Twice before, Close Associates has helped our Franklin Avenue neighbor, Seward Co-op Grocery & Deli, with building and expansion. This time the Co-op's continued growth needed an almost tripling of space and the new site was only two blocks from our Office. We reworked a former grocery store (originally Lindahl Oldsmobile) with its terrazzo floor and buried roof trusses, and were able to preserve local history, save money, and recycle original building fabric.

The project was awarded LEED GOLD certification. Totaling over twenty five thousand square feet with construction costing over four million dollars, the Building includes offices, a cooking classroom, and a new catering kitchen. The affordable/sustainable, cement/fiber panel exterior with aluminum battens was painted shades of green to mirror the Co-op's graphics and our environmentally conscious Neighborhood. The Co-op won the Twin Cities 2009 Best in Real Estate Award for retail projects.

Challenges included city requirements, complicated financing, and the tragic death of Mike Schrock, collaborator, friend, and mainstay on this project. Helping us stay on time and budget were General Contractor Watson-Forsberg, our many consultants, and Neighborhood developer, Seward Redesign.