Brewery wins needed licenses

Transformation of the former Silgan can factory at 755 N. Prior Ave. continues. Black Stack Brewing has been given licenses for a brewery taproom, malt off-sale, liquor on sale, Sunday liquor and Class A entertainment licenses by the St. Paul City Council. The owners went through a legislative hearing before winning council approval in April.

Hamline-Midway Coalition recommended city approval of the licenses. One neighbor raised concerns about spillover parking and noise, so the hearing was held to discuss license conditions. The entertainment license is for amplified or non-amplified music and singing by performers without limitation as to number, and group singing participated in by patrons of the establishment. That includes karaoke but doesn’t include performer or patron dancing.

Black Stack Brewing has more than 60 adjacent parking spaces, with 338 surface and below-grade stalls planned as the entire facility is redeveloped. The brewery will operate Sun., 11am to 10pm; Mon. through Thur., noon to 11pm; Fri., noon to midnight, and Sat. 8am to midnight. Live music will be offered some Fridays or Saturdays but not every weekend. As part of the renovation, the building has been insulated to absorb sound. New dual-glazed windows were also installed for sound insulation.

Conditions placed on the licenses center on the entertainment aspect of the brewery and restated what is allowed under the license granted. No opening date has been announced. The brewery will be part of a complex that includes Can Wonderland artist-designed mini-golf.

BROWNstone moving ahead

Redevelopment of a one-story University Ave. commercial building and parking lot into the Model Cities BROWNstone project took a key step ahead April 13. The St. Paul City Council, acting as the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), unanimously approved the issuance and sale of up to $5 million in conduit housing revenue bonds, as well as project agreements with Model Cities.

This vote allows the nonprofit to redevelop 839-849 University Ave. The existing building will be torn down, and a new four-story mixed-used transit-oriented development will be built next to the Green Line light rail Victoria Station. It will have 35 units of affordable rental housing units and approximately 20,415 square feet of commercial/retail space.

Part of the first-floor space will include a reading/ museum room dedicated to the history of the Pullman train car workers from the 1900s. Most workers were African-American and lived nearby in the Rondo neighborhood.

The second-floor space will be split between Model Cities offices and six rental housing units. The third and fourth floor will have 29 rental housing units. There will be 26 residential underground parking spaces. Model Cities already owns and operates an apartment building to the east of the planned development.

Rents will range from $756 for a one-bedroom unit to $1,126 for a two-bedroom unit.

Total development cost is $14,762,926 for both the housing and commercial components. A combination of Neighborhood Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) grants and loans, low-income housing tax credits, federal Community Development Block Grant, HOME program funds, tax increment financing and public and private grants will be used to finance the project, along with the conduit bonds.

The city acts as a pass-through for the bonds, and there is no financial risk to the city.

Grants in the works

St. Paul city officials have their fingers crossed for a number of grants. The St. Paul City Council Apr. 20 approved a series of applications for bike and trail funding and redevelopment funding.

The St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development (PED) is applying for Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) grants for contamination cleanup and to Metropolitan Council for Tax Base Revitalization Account (TBRA) grants for nine projects. Those include 2300 Territorial Road and RS Eden workforce housing, Union Park Flats, at 1509 Marshall Ave.

The grant applications were due in early May,

The council also authorized the St. Paul Departments of Parks and Recreation and Public Works to seek a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for work on the Grand Round system of bicycle and pedestrian trails. Part of the Grand Round is in area neighborhoods and is complete. The grant would be used for East Side, North End and Midway area segments of the trail. The grant application notes that the Grand Round is increasingly used by bicycle commuters to get to work.

Word on all of the grants will be received later this year.