Since the beginning of construction in the spring, the stretch of Grand Avenue between Snelling and Fairview Avenues, a normally bustling business district, has undergone a major facelift by the City of Saint Paul. The construction shut down the road, rerouted the 63 bus line and closed the surrounding streets and sidewalks, affecting the business along the normally lively avenue.
The work isn’t just that of a typical construction season; multiple concurrent projects are happening with the City of Saint Paul’s overhaul of the street and ongoing Macalester’s construction projects related to the strategic plan.
“There is the Grand Avenue project itself to replace the water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure under Grand [Avenue] as well as to update the roadway itself. [Macalester] replaced the median between Snelling and Macalester [Street],” Nathan Lief, associate vice president for Facilities Services, wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly.
The City’s projects are a part of Saint Paul’s “Common Cent” tax meant to “fund comprehensive improvements to city roads and parks.” Originally, the City’s construction of Grand Avenue was anticipated to start and finish in 2024, with work on Macalester’s section of the avenue happening in 2025. However, the City of Saint Paul postponed both sections of the work until this year.
According to Jeannette Rebar, Saint Paul public works communication engagement coordinator, the change in scheduling was due to changes in funding, staffing and coordination with the Minnesota Department of Transportation on ongoing construction along Snelling Avenue.
The original revised timeline for the project had the work beginning in the spring and scheduled to finish in August; however, the project has “encountered multiple unexpected delays” according to the City of Saint Paul’s construction website. These delays included the unearthing of old streetcar tracks that needed to be removed and discovery of a water line requiring replacement.
Currently, the newest estimate from the City of Saint Paul is that the construction is scheduled to be completed in November, with additional minor work planned for next spring.
“Some [businesses] have fared better than others but in general, most of the businesses are hurting very much right now…[and] losing money every month,” Deanna Seppanen, director of the Macalester High Winds Fund, said.
Macalester’s High Winds Fund owns various buildings throughout the Mac-Groveland community, including businesses currently affected by the ongoing construction, such as French Meadow, Patagonia and the St. Paul Meat Shop.
For some businesses along Grand Avenue, the construction has had little impact on their business beyond mild inconvenience.
“We were really concerned that we were going to be significantly affected and that traffic would come to a near standstill,” Chris Nolt, floor manager at Wet Paint, said. “The intersection [where we’re located] has been open about 95 percent of the time, and so folks have been able to get through… and in coordination with the contractors that are actually doing the work outside, we’ve been able to determine when closures will happen. We’ve been as busy as we’ve ever been.”
Nolt attributes the lack of disruption in sales to the community support from artists around the Twin Cities, new and returning customers alike.
“Nearly every day, we have somebody coming into the store saying that this is their first time in the store,” Nolt said. “That’s a big deal for us, especially having been around for [50 years]. The fact that we still have new people discovering who we are and what we do is really valuable.”
Similarly, the St. Paul Meat Shop has relied heavily on Mac-Groveland community support to mitigate the impacts of the construction project.
“We’re lucky enough to have a pretty established presence here on Grand [Avenue] and so we have a huge customer base that is our regulars,” Julia Kietzer, manager of the St. Paul Meat Shop, said. “We have really good retention, and so those folks come in every week, rain or shine… and that’s what we pride ourselves on, is building those relationships. So when things like this happen, people know and love us enough that they’ll come find us through the mayhem.”
According to Kietzer, the St. Paul Meat Shop has seen a decline of sales around 10 percent compared to their projections. Kietzer attributed this drop to construction impacts and rising beef prices.
A major impact of the construction has been the sidewalk work and the street being in various states of disrepair, impacting how patrons and employees access the storefronts.
“It [has] been a challenge physically to bring books into the store and get them out of the store [as] I only have a front door,” Hal Johnson, owner of used bookstore Against the Current, said.
Other Grand Avenue businesses have also suffered from the inability of their customers to access their storefronts.
“Some days, [people will] come in and [see] the intersections are closed, so people can’t even drive through,” Emily Osterberg, business owner of dessert shop Baking Betty’s, said. “If anyone’s coming, [they are] definitely not going to attempt to try and park two blocks down the road just to come and get a cookie.”
Baking Betty’s, a bakery specializing in cookies, opened on Grand Avenue in November. Prior to opening their door, the business was formerly located inside the Mall of America. According to Osterberg, Baking Betty’s chose the Grand Avenue location knowing there would be construction projects affecting their storefront.
“It was especially hard when [the city] tore up the sidewalks, because it looked like it was all dirt,” Osterberg said. “People were unsure if they should walk on the [sidewalk] or not, [and] with the road being closed, and the only way [a person] can get to the sidewalks is going through the road close[d] sign.”
Osterberg said that she estimated that since the construction started, Baking Betty’s sales dropped 50 percent compared to their winter season.
“We tried to bump up our catering and then we just started doing wholesale…trying to boost sales any way we can,” Osterberg said.
Similarly, the St. Paul Meat Shop has also had to shift their business strategies in order to drive more customers into their store. The store’s parent company, France 44, stepped in to help them improve their inventory and product selection.
“Our buyers and our managers all across the board have done a really great job of diversifying our product[s],” Kietzer said. “So not only do we source meat, but we also have soups, and we source market stuff that people are looking for.”
To keep business owners in the loop, the City of Saint Paul updates their Grand Avenue construction website weekly, stating what work will be completed that week and what work is still to be completed. They have also been in contact with the businesses, updating them about the progress of the construction. However, Kietzer said that communication between the City and the business has not been consistent.
“It’s a little bit frustrating when it feels like we’re not being communicated with,” Kietzer said. “When folks from the city or the project manager for one of the construction teams [are] coming in and giving us an update, and then a few weeks [go] by and we don’t hear anything more, and things are still going on… We just really appreciate communication and the forethought to loop us in on the planning.”
However, other businesses have had a different perspective on how the City has communicated with them. According to Nolt, the communication between them and the City and its employees has been “free-flowing.”
“Communication with the construction team [and the contractors] has been a regular thing,” Nolt said. “There [are] weekly meetings with the construction team [about] what to expect on a weekly or day-by-day basis.”
According to Rebar, the City of Saint Paul has been keeping the interests of the businesses in mind while the construction has been continuing, ensuring they are aware of what is happening along Grand Avenue.
“We offer business [office] hours that businesses can stop in or call virtually,” Rebar said. “We’re also stopping [into the businesses] as we’ve made adjustments to the schedule or updates of what work is coming. Each business’s storefront looks different, and how we coordinate with the sidewalk work may have required more or less time depending on [the] business’s schedules.”
The prolonged nature of the construction has had varied and unequal effects on the businesses along Grand Avenue, with some businesses not particularly impacted by this construction project with others feeling the strain more heavily.
Some of the Grand Avenue businesses affected by the construction have been receiving support from both the City of Saint Paul and the Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA). GABA is an organization of various businesses along the avenue that help to promote the street’s businesses and support them through marketing and community events.
“We tried to support the businesses by partnering with the City to do a construction crawl and marketing campaign profiling [the affected] businesses,” Seppanen, who also serves as a board member for GABA, said. “We include[d] a construction cone on [the] PAWS on Grand map to try to make people aware of what was happening down here and get people to visit [those] businesses.”
Despite looming construction, most Grand Avenue businesses affected by the prolonged construction are looking forward to seeing the project completed and seeing a revitalized business district.
“Seeing how the project is developing, [Grand Avenue] already looks better,” Nolt said. “[The city] narrowed the roads and widened the walkways, which I think will be really nice for pedestrians, specifically in the areas where there are shops and restaurants. Some of the restaurants have tables and chairs that they set out, and that will give more space for people to be able to eat…while still having enough space for people to walk.”
The City of Saint Paul and GABA, along with the Mac-Groveland Neighborhood Council, have begun coordinating business initiatives that will celebrate the reopening of renovated parts of Grand Avenue.
“We [will be] continuing to support the businesses and letting the public know [that Grand Avenue will be] fully back open,” Rebar said.
Until the construction finishes the bulk of its work in November, all that the businesses affected by this project can do is wait for the construction to be finished.
“We just roll with it, because there’s not much we can do,” Kietzer said.
