ABA Banking Journal - February 2008 - (Page 30)

COVER STORY Rampant crime had become everyday news. The rental truck yard of a gas station had become a makeshift hotel for prostitutes and their customers. The Franklin Circles Shopping Center nearby had become, in the words of a city government report, “an open drug bazaar,” dominated by businesses—such as a liquor store—that tended to encourage troublesome traffic. Another nearby building was a porn theatre. The strip held the dubious distinction of being one of Minneapolis’ top 911 call destinations. The American Indian Neighborhood Development Corp. (AINDC), a tribal commercial real estate development nonprofit organization, stepped in, hoping to turn the situation around. The group’s overall mission is working to improve opportunities for Native Americans, many of whom live in the area, and others in distressed Minneapolis neighborhoods through commercial business development. It worked with the police and city government, a law firm, Franklin Bank, and other organizations. The shopping center was revamped and rechristened the Ancient Traders Market, in recognition of the AINDC Native American roots. The corporation acquired area properties that it didn’t already own with city assistance, to form a strong nucleus that it could control, and began bringing in a more appropriate mix of businesses. This included better neighborhood anchors, such as a supermarket, a pharmacy, a Native American gifts store, a medical clinic, and a restaurant, Maria’s, that has become a popular destination since this redevelopment effort started in 1999. The center also provided free space for a public safety center, to encourage police presence. As AINDC and its partners continued to improve the shopping center and surrounding properties, other private and public players stepped up. They added apartment buildings, improved library facilities, and street improvements. “A perfect storm of development, managing the business mix, infrastructure investment, enhancing public safety, stabilizing the housing market, and creating great spaces converged around Franklin Avenue to transform it from a place of open drug dealing to a place that meets the retail and gathering needs of residents, Urban community bankers like Dorothy Bridges have to keep moving to get the job done. Top, Jon Maggs shows Bridges an arrangement at Roger Beck, Florist, one of the businesses the bank helped bring to a former urban war zone. Above left, Bridges and Theresa Carr of the American Indian Neighborhood Development Corp., in the Ancient Traders Market, keystone of a redevelopment project. Above right, Bridges meets with Frank Altman, president of Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, which taps secondary market money to keep community development lenders lending. and draws people from around the city for breakfast and pottery,” stated the city report. “Now that Franklin Avenue has stabilized, crime is counteracted in the most effective way possible—the presence of people shopping, eating, and observing goings-on in the public realm of the street.” Theresa Carr, executive director at AINDC, says the project has brought around 50 new businesses and 600 new jobs to the neighborhood. Carr credits Franklin Bank’s involvement for helping move the project to completion at least a year faster than would have been the case otherwise. The favorable experience that the foundation and Franklin Bank had with the Ancient Traders Market and environs has encouraged both to work together again on another project that has been in development for several years. Built around a “Y,” the North Minneapolis multi-use project will involve approximately 50 businesses, as well. Franklin Bank is participating in the $60 million project as a lender, and AINDC has been gathering grant funding. The effort is in its early stages, with $50 million still to be raised. “It’s a massive undertaking,” says Bridges. Catalysts and ripple effects Indeed, as the Ancient Traders and “Y” projects illustrate, community develop- 30 FEBRUARY 2008/ABA BANKING JOURNAL www.ababj.com/subscribe.html http://www.crfusa.com/index.asp http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - February 2008

ABA Banking Journal - February 2008 Contents On ABABJ.COM: Have You Visited Our Brand-New Website? Editor's Column "That's Edutainment" Snapshot: Tier 1 Ratios Stable so Far 100th Anniversary: Then and Now ABA Resources ABA Chairman's Position Don't Despair Pass the Aspirin Cover Story: Socially Responsible Banking Profitably - Incoming America's Community Bankers Council Chairwoman, Dorothy Bridges Demonstrates the Way A True "Rags-to-Banker" Story Retail Banking: On the Money Hunt Community Bank Management: The Ugly Truth About Board Relations Does Core Really Matter? Security 2.0: Not Just a New Kettle of Phish A Personal Case of Mal-Serendipity DOD Credit Regs Demand Attention Mailbox Banker's Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - February 2008

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