Building gets new lease on life
Pioneer Press
October 14, 2005
By Laura Yeun
Martin Lubell's struggling Renaissance Box community building near Lowertown found a savior in another free-thinking entrepreneur -- his father-in-law.
Jim Muellner, a prominent White Bear Township inventor and businessman, negotiated a settlement with the city of St. Paul on Tuesday in which he paid $90,000 to buy the seven-story building in its final stage of foreclosure.
Muellner said he plans to sell the building to the Central Community Housing Trust, which is working to convert the top floors into 50 to 60 affordable-housing units.
The purchase also gives an 11th-hour reprieve to the offices, small businesses and community groups occupying the North Quadrant building. The Minneapolis-based housing trust hopes to keep them there even after it moves into the property.
"I'm just trying to help," said Muellner, who designed the popular Smarte Carte luggage haulers found in most airports. His newest invention is a line of recumbent tricycles. "Sometimes dreams come crashing down. ... I felt some of Martin's dreams were realistic, and he needed a little bit of help."
Muellner purchased the sheriff's certificate on the building Tuesday, one day before the foreclosure's redemption period was to expire. The city foreclosed on the property this spring because of delinquent payments on a $337,000 loan. Muellner's involvement essentially will put the property on hold while the housing trust attempts to pull together the necessary pieces, including the city's financial support and community buy-in.
"We're very excited to preserve a part of Martin's vision -- to serve the entrepreneurial spirit and small businesses -- and to do affordable housing for the city of St. Paul," said the trust's president, Alan Arthur. The trust also is bringing affordable housing to the old Crane-Ordway building, a Lowertown warehouse that once stored pipes and steam fittings.
More than $1 million of outstanding debt on the property needs to be negotiated between Muellner and Premier Banks, Lubell's primary lender, Muellner said.
Lubell bought the old O'Donnell Shoe Co. in 1999 for $960,000 and converted it into a gathering spot. He has said he has since poured $2.5 million -- including money he borrowed from his bank, the city, friends, parents and in-laws -- into renovating it.
The latest transaction won't make him whole, but Lubell said it was the best scenario that could come out of the situation. A bike shop, theater and bohemian-influenced club and other community groups will stay planted in his creation.
"It's one of my happiest days. Today could have been liquidation and bankruptcy," he said.
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