MINNEAPOLIS — The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute’s multi-year effort to acquire the Roof Depot site in south Minneapolis reached a critical impasse this week after the nonprofit fell short of a state-mandated purchase deadline.
EPNI had agreed to purchase the 7.5-acre site for $11.4 million under a 2023 agreement with the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Legislature; however, the organization was unable to secure the full amount after promised state funding failed to materialize.
The setback followed years of organizing, litigation, legislative negotiations, and direct action by East Phillips residents, who had fought to prevent demolition of the former warehouse over concerns that disturbing the soil at the former pesticide plant would release arsenic and other contaminants into the largely Indigenous, Latino, and East African neighborhood.
The community ultimately persuaded state leaders and Minneapolis officials to halt demolition in 2023, securing a path to purchase the building for redevelopment as an indoor urban farm and community hub.
What led to the shortfall
EPNI had raised $10.2 million through neighbors, philanthropic partners, and local governments, but remained reliant on $5.7 million that the Minnesota Legislature had pledged during budget negotiations. That appropriation never received final legislative approval amid 2024’s statewide funding cuts driven by federal budget reductions. As a result, EPNI missed the purchasing deadline, and the city’s offer expired.
EPNI characterized the funding loss as a preventable breakdown in policymaking, citing the neighborhood’s long history of environmental harm and disinvestment. Joe Vital, EPNI’s interim executive director, said earlier this year that the fight was fundamentally about “correcting decades of environmental racism” and ensuring access to clean air, food, and long-term health for East Phillips residents.
State Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, who represents the area, echoed those concerns.
“The inability to secure the funding needed to complete the Roof Depot purchase was one of many disappointments coming out of this legislative session,” she said. “We will continue to be a partner at the table with the city and community to move the project forward.”
Following Minneapolis’ rejection of EPNI’s September counteroffer, a $10.2 million proposal sent three months earlier, Sencer-Mura said the legislative delegation remained committed to finding a path forward.
“So much time, energy, passion, and organizing has gone into this process over the years, and we owe it to community to ensure the work moves forward,” Sencer-Mura said.
A decade-long push for environmental justice
The Roof Depot campaign originated from concerns about chronic asthma, pollution, and soil contamination in the neighborhood, where residents have documented health issues linked to the site’s industrial past. East Phillips community members, organizers, and environmental health advocates spent more than a decade envisioning the property as a community-owned resource, featuring an indoor farm. This rooftop solar array would serve more than 200 households, commercial space for local businesses, and job training hubs.
EPNI argued that its offer more than doubled the site’s recent appraisal value of $3.7 million and reflected the community’s commitment to long-term reinvestment. In multiple statements, the organization criticized the city for allowing roughly $2 million per year in Water Fund expenditures on planning for the previously proposed Hiawatha Expansion Project — a public works facility that the community strongly opposed.
EPNI stated that stewardship should encompass “ethical accountability to the people most impacted by policy decisions,” rather than merely attempting to recoup sunk costs for an abandoned municipal project. The group maintained that the city’s rejection of its offer represented a “missed opportunity to prioritize environmental justice, racial equity and authentic community partnership.”
What the city plans to do next
Without a last-minute intervention, Minneapolis officials said the property would likely return to the open market. The city is no longer pursuing the water facility it once planned, meaning the future of the 7.5-acre site may ultimately depend on private developers.
Community advocates warned that such an outcome could erase years of progress made toward a climate-resilient, community-owned campus aligned with Minneapolis 2040 goals, including emissions reductions, access to healthy food, equitable economic development, and increased green infrastructure.
EPNI noted it remained committed to discussions with elected officials, philanthropic partners, and neighbors.
“We remain committed to working with all levels of government, philanthropic partners, and our neighbors to secure the funding needed and pursue the vision our community has fought for over the last decade,” the group said in September.
As of now, the future of the Roof Depot site, and the urban farm many believed could reshape one of Minnesota’s most historically burdened neighborhoods, remained uncertain.
