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NAIOP Minnesota is pleased to be working with Catalyst Community Partners on community enhancement efforts. Read details below on the many opportunities for NAIOP members to get involved.
Where heart and soul meet bricks and mortar.
Catalyst’s Mission:
Catalyst Community Partners is a community developer that revitalizes distressed commercial corridors by redeveloping vacant properties and cultivating sustainable businesses that enhance livability and provide neighborhood jobs. Catalyst’s three areas of activities are commercial real estate development, business development and community engagement.
Commercial Real Estate Development
Catalyst focuses on stimulating, accelerating, and enhancing positive commercial development in North Minneapolis. It has completed 11 commercial real estate projects along or near West Broadway in North Minneapolis. Catalyst works on behalf of the local community to bring blighted, often historic properties back into service. In a community with the nation’s highest unemployment gap between African-American and white males, Catalyst creates vital job opportunities for local and minority construction workers. In the past three years, Catalyst projects have achieved 45 to 54 percent minority participation, triple the standard rate for commercial projects.
Catalyst sets high standards of excellence, incorporating public art, safety improvements, architecturally designed facades, and quality materials into every project. Its projects have received six awards of excellence in the past three years including “Project of the Year 2010” awarded by the City Council Fifth Ward. In addition to its own projects, Catalyst assists existing property owners and third party developers in successfully completing their projects to the same high-quality community standards.
Business Development
Catalyst focuses on growing local businesses and neighborhood jobs. Its redevelopment efforts have resulted in an estimated 222 jobs and 40 employers to North Minneapolis in the past seven years. Catalyst’s Kindred Kitchen food incubator program supports 44 local food entrepreneurs in launching and growing their small businesses. Working closely with the local business association and small business support organizations, Catalyst assists existing owners in improving their businesses through property renovation expertise and Catalyst’s loan fund.
Community Engagement
As a community-based developer, Catalyst’s role is to engage community members and local organizations in the revitalization process. Catalyst facilitates a Community Development Committee comprised of neighborhood residents, business representatives, faith congregants, and community members who guide and enhance Catalyst’s development activities. It organizes local engagement around planning and zoning efforts. Catalyst collaborates with employment, arts, safety, business services, public agencies and social service partners throughout their work, applying a comprehensive approach to community development. It also collaborates extensively on area-wide priorities including post-tornado recovery and transit-oriented development. Catalyst encourages engagement of the broader Twin Cities community in beautification and community building efforts. Through its “Better. Together.” program, over 4,800 volunteer hours have contributed toward community beautification projects.
Better. Together. NAIOP's Partnership with Catalyst.
NAIOP Minnesota’s efforts represent a significant impact to Catalyst. Catalyst has recently partnered with Roslyn zumBrunnen IIDA, LEED AP of Studio Hive to create smart, high design, but affordable solutions for West Broadway property owners. Ms. zumBrunnen is creating an economical and design-savvy space plan to transform a 3,000 sf space that has sat vacant for 3 years into a vibrant hub of retail/office spaces filled with start-up businesses. Without the efforts and expertise of Studio Hive, the site may have very well sat vacant for another 3 years or more.
There are hosts of upstanding and interested commercial landlords that are looking to upgrade their properties, but have little capital or expertise to contribute to the design and construction process. Enter Catalyst and a NAIOP Partner.
Catalyst has a deep knowledge of the local commercial real estate market, on both the supply and demand sides. While we know where a project needs to go, we cannot match the specialized expertise of NAIOP members. Whether you or your firm brings design, construction, leasing, development, etc. – we can plug you into a project that could greatly benefit from your services. Help us make a difference by transforming the built environment of West Broadway building by building.
How you can get involved.
Since partnering with NAIOP, Catalyst has engaged 50 small businesses and assisted 13 with technical support, redeveloped a 12,000 square foot Class A office building and a 13,000 square foot office/retail building, and opened Kindred Kitchen. In the third year of our partnership, Catalyst is excited to engage NAIOP members in:
- Real Estate Technical Assistance (real estate services and expertise):
- Professional service donations (architecture, landscaping, design, engineering, legal, property management, graphic design, leasing, construction, etc.)
- Site analysis, business feasibility, market studies, and corridor evaluations
- Professional tutoring for Catalyst staff. Contribute an hour a month to mentor Catalyst staff and help work through issues that the organization faces in transforming West Broadway
- Adopt-a-Project (comprehensive project ownership): Catalyst’s development professionals can engage NAIOP teams into a specific redevelopment projects – often with a 3rd party local property owner.
- Whatever your firm’s expertise, West Broadway could use your services. Let Catalyst know what type of services you’d like to provide and they will find a project in need
- Annual Catalyst Fundraiser Event (planning and execution of one major event per year)
- Custom Adopt-a-Project, tailored for NAIOP members or groups, helping build, renovate, or support a particular asset or business
- Everyday Plug-and-Play (volunteer opportunities): Groups of NAIOP members provide physical muscle on a real estate project. Community garden plantings, business makeovers, and painting are a few examples of how members, families, and corporate groups can engage on a recurring basis. These opportunities are structured to be flexible, fun team-builders and take advantage of larger groups of volunteers.
- Business makeovers
- Corridor clean-up
- Community garden painting
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