Star Tribune
Minneapolis Uptown homeless facility advances over opposition
Lakeshore Care, a company created earlier this year, has received a key city approval to establish a 24-bed medical respite center for homeless people in Minneapolis’ Uptown business district despite the vociferous protestations of neighboring business owners.
The embattled project, proposed for 918 W. Lake St., has received overwhelmingly negative public comments through two separate attempts to obtain city permits in recent months. Lakeshore Care applied first for a conditional use permit through the Planning Commission in June, with discussions delayed numerous times as community members complained about a lack of engagement. In response, city staff suggested Lakeshore Care submit a new application for an interim use permit, which would allow the center to operate for a trial period of up to five years.
Medical respite is a service for homeless people with acute health problems who have been released from the hospital but are still too sick to be on the streets. The city’s zoning code categorizes medical respite facilities as emergency overnight homeless shelters, but they are not. Lakeshore Care proposes only accepting clients discharged with doctor’s orders for stays up to 60 days. The Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan allows “emergency shelters” as a conditional use in all zones of the city including the Uptown commercial district.
Still, some Uptown business owners testified at a public hearing before City Council members earlier this month that services should be relegated to industrial zones rather than business districts because the presence of homeless people makes their customers uncomfortable. Others raised concerns about Lakeshore Care being an untested for-profit company, and whether it will be able to provide healing in small, windowless living quarters without outdoor green space.
Business owners who spoke against the facility have received one-star online reviews. In the days after a fire destroyed an apartment building immediately across from 918 W. Lake St., displacing tenants and shutting down a day spa whose owner had been critical of Lakeshore Care, panic spread among business owners who suspected the arson had been retaliatory as well. Police eventually arrested a homeless man, but the charges established no connection between his alleged motives and the raging debate over Lakeshore Care’s permitting.
Brenna Wernersbach, owner of MoonStone MPLS gift shop, said they have not appreciated how the public vetting of Lakeshore Care has devolved into an entrenched fight between people who don’t want homeless people around and advocates who find that position immoral. Wernersbach believes there are legitimate, unanswered questions about the provider.
“They say they have the experience, but they don’t elaborate,” Wernersbach said. “On the one hand, this is a safe and serene environment with proximity to medical centers, and that’s why they want to put it here, but then they’ll turn around and say it’s not even safe enough to have windows.”
Established nonprofits that have provided medical respite beds in the Twin Cities for years include the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Union Gospel Mission.
Record store Electric Fetus, a mainstay of Minneapolis’ music scene since 1968, started carrying K-pop albums around 2020, said Jim Novak, the store’s music buyer. Now, nestled between R&B CDs and electronic vinyl albums, a K-pop end cap offers a few hundred physical records, less than 10% of the 3,000 physical albums offered in the store, according to Novak.
“It’s currently driving a whole different generation of people into our shop,” Novak said.
Novak appreciates the thought put into K-pop physical releases. Each album takes a different shape: a classic CD case, a thick cardboard box or even a notepad. These different forms make it fit best as its own end cap, he said.
Novak, who designed the section, said he is still learning what the genre means to its fans. When he sees a young group flip through the CDs, he can’t help but feel excited.
“It is really encouraging to see young people be so into physical media,” he said.
K-pop albums often come in different shapes, sizes and formats, encouraging a new interest in physical merchandise. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Sweet Escape opened in 2022 in the Maplewood Mall and often brings Twin Cities K-pop fans together through events hosted at the mall’s Center Court.
The St. Paul Police Department said the Ramsey County Medical Examiner has identified Carrie Shobe Kwok as the woman killed while working on a mural near the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative where she and other artists lived.
Police Chief Axel Henry said in a news conference Thursday that there is no indication Kwok knew the shooter, adding that her death was one of the most brazen acts he’s seen in 30 years of policing.
“[This killing is] one of the most cold-blooded things I’ve ever seen in my life. And as, what appears to be right now, a random act performed in a manner like that — I’ve never seen anything like that even in a movie. It is awful,” Henry said. “As the evidence comes out in the next few days, I hope we use this as an opportunity to really revisit how serious we are as a state and as a country about the types of violence that have become all too common.”
Kwok’s death comes days before the St. Paul fall art crawl, an annual event showcasing work from artists across Lowertown and Minnesota. In a statement, event organizers said they hope to honor Kwok’s memory.
“Her passion for creativity reminds us of the essential role that art plays in our community — it connects us, heals us, and allows us to express our deepest emotions,” St. Paul Art Collective Executive Director Mariusz Kujawski said in a statement. “Let us come together to celebrate not only the art she created but also the vibrant contributions each of you makes to our collective artistic journey.”
The man suspected of killing Kwok was tracked to Belle Plaine where St. Paul officers attempted to arrest him. St. Paul Police said the man was armed with a handgun when he was confronted by the officers, and two St. Paul officers shot him.
Both officers gave the man medical aid before he was airlifted to HCMC where he died. The officers involved in that shooting were placed on standard administrative leave as the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates that shooting. Although police have not named the suspect, a family member identified him as Seantrell Murdock, 29, of Belle Plaine.
In Thomas County, Georgia, where residents had been under a curfew, the sheriff’s office said it was extended until noon Friday. “Please shelter in place,” the office posted online.
Helene is the third storm to strike the city in just over a year. Tropical Storm Debby blacked out power to thousands in August, while Hurricane Idalia damaged an estimated 1,000 homes in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County a year ago.
”We’ve seen some storms and grown some thicker skins,” Herrera said.
Soon after it crossed over land, Helene weakened to a tropical storm, with its maximum sustained winds falling to 70 mph (110 kph). At 5 a.m., the storm was about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Macon, Georgia, and about 100 miles (165 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta, moving north at 30 mph (48 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.
Forecasters expected the system to continue weakening as it moves into Tennessee and Kentucky and drops heavy rain over the Appalachian Mountains, with the risk of mudslides and flash flooding.
Even before landfall, the storm’s wrath was felt widely, with sustained tropical storm-force winds and hurricane-force gusts along Florida’s west coast. Officials begged residents to evacuate.
