Developer seeks city aid as foreclosure nears
Renaissance Box community building falls short of vision
Pioneer Press
October 2, 2005
By Laura Yuen
Reality has set in for St. Paul downtown property owner Martin Lubell, who has diligently held onto his eclectic Renaissance Box community building despite failing to pay off a city loan since 2002.
With the foreclosure process nearing an end, Lubell is hoping the Central Community Housing Trust will move forward with plans to buy his North Quadrant high-rise and turn it into affordable apartments. Such a purchase would allow Lubell a chance to bow out of the struggling property - and his $2.7 million in debt - while possibly keeping intact some of the community center's spirit, such as a theater and a bike shop, he said.
Those plans, however, appear to hinge on city support.
The Central Community Housing Trust, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit developer, probably would turn to the city and state for financial assistance.
Though its president, Alan Arthur, has had conversations with city officials about the concept, the trust needs to deliver a hard financial request - and soon, said Susan Kimberly, the city's head of planning and economic development.
Foreclosure on Lubell's $337,000 city loan wraps up Oct. 12.
"It is not a certainty that we can support that project," Kimberly said. "We need to know a whole lot more about it."
Lubell's vision, to create a lively mix of artist studios, offices and community rooms, has been in trouble for most of its existence. Six years ago, he bought the former warehouse for $960,000, not realizing it needed about $2.5 million in renovation. He has defaulted on not only the city loan but also his primary mortgage from the bank. Today, the office space is about 45 percent vacant.
Through it all, Lubell said his mission was to offer something imaginative in the North Quadrant, where he is almost entirely surrounded by new residential buildings. "Let's just keep it more balanced," he said. "We don't always have to do condos."
If the housing trust proceeds with the apartment conversions, it still would hope to preserve about three floors of community space, including the Loading Dock Theater and the Sibley Bike Depot, Arthur said. The affordable housing would serve many people who work in downtown's service industry and who make $8 to $12 an hour, Arthur said.
"Martin Lubell, I think, really is a very enthusiastic visionary and had some great ideas on how to create spaces for small entrepreneurs and community-based programs," he said. "Obviously, things need to work financially, and I don't think that was Martin's forte."
Kimberly said she couldn't comment on the trust's plans without seeing a proposal. She noted the city's efforts to help Lubell, not only with loans and grants for the building costs, but also through thousands of dollars in contributions toward the building's bike depot and the Gremlin Theatre. If the trust pays Lubell the full amount he owes, it will have paid too much, Kimberly said.
"Our obligation is to the taxpayer; it isn't to Martin," she said. "This is a sad story. He's a creative guy. This may not be headed for a happy ending."
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