CVS to come down

The vacant, blighted CVS at University and Snelling avenues is to be demolished in 15 days with no opportunity for repair. The St. Paul City Council approved that action Nov. 5, despite 11th-hour requests from CVS and the building’s owner for up to 120 days to rehabilitate the building and seek a new occupant.
City council and community members were irked that CVS and Spokane-based building owner SCP 2005 C21 045 LLC ignored repeated letters from city officials about the building’s poor condition. CVS has had representation at legislative hearings. The building owner didn’t send a lawyer to City Hall until the council meeting.
The notion of rehabilitating a building that Legislative Hearing Officer Marcia Moermond described as a “rather large trash bin” struck many people as too little, too late. The owner hasn’t provided a performance bond, a work plan and evidence of financial wherewithal to save the building as the city requires.
“The record leaves no doubt that this is a nuisance property,” said Ward Four Council Member Molly Coleman. She noted the plus-600 police calls the site has generated, along with drug use, loitering, trash dumping and other problems.
Coleman criticized what she called “a final Hail Mary attempt” to save the building, which she described as a “threat to the community.”
“The clock has run out,” she said.
Moermond held two legislative hearings on the property, which has not had a certificate of occupancy for the past few years. It has been stripped of metal. City crews have cleaned up the property numerous times.
Adam Niblick of the Taft Law Firm in Minneapolis represents CVS, which has a lease on the building through 2031. David Sienko of Levander, Gillen and Miller in Eagan represents the owner. They asked for time to allow an active sale process to continue, so the building could be reoccupied, and for the demolition process to pause.
Niblick said that if the building is razed, the site would be increasingly difficult to redevelop and could remain underutilized until the end of the CVS lease.
The owner and CVS have increased security and cleanup at the site, and CVS is willing to make several changes at the property. One is to replace plywood on windows with metal shutters. Graffiti-resistant paint would be used on the building and other physical changes made to deter problems.
Area residents, Hamline Midway Coalition (HMC), Midway Investment Cooperative and United Village representatives supported demolition. Some speakers raised idea for the site and a desire for local control.
Lisa Clare Nelson, interim HMC director, cited the immense harm and costs the vacant building has had for the district council. Residents and business owners have put much time in dealing with problems at the property. Nearby property owners have lost tenants.
“It’s an important intersection,” Nelson said of University and Snelling. “And it should be better.”
Mike Hahm, a consultant for the United Village development by Allianz Field, said his group has worked with Midway Chamber of Commerce and area district councils to start redevelopment on the former Midway Center site. They have taken time to clean up the property and taken many other steps.
Meanwhile, CVS sits vacant and blighted nearby. “It’s been too long – it needs to go,” he said.
Longtime neighborhood resident Jerry Ratliff said he’s seen no work at the property for a long time. CVS is one of more than 20 vacant lots and buildings in the area that owners are sitting on.
“I don’t trust anyone to do anything now,” he said.
The demolition process will take longer than 15 days, but the council vote does start the clock toward further building cleanup and retention of a demolition contractor. The process could be slowed further if CVS and property owner choose to take legal action to block demolition.
The property was been the subject of numerous complaints, and two legislative hearings this fall. Its public record is extensive, filled with area resident and business owner complaints. Many neighbors have weighed in about the property and how it is magnet for problems. Burned foil and sharps from drug use are frequently found in the area.
The building was erected in 2007, was extensively damaged during civil unrest in 2020, reopened and then closed in 2022.