Real estate leaders divided on how to talk about downtown safety
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Some Minneapolis real estate leaders would prefer to talk about the September Dinner Du Nord event than downtown crime. Photo: Renee Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Erin Fitzgerald, an investor in downtown Minneapolis commercial real estate, isn't happy with how a recent film by former TV anchor Rick Kupchella portrays the city.
- "I was told that it would be a positive spin on downtown Minneapolis, so I agreed to do it" said Fitzgerald, who is shown talking about a shooting hotspot in the Warehouse District.
She said she believed the film was going to highlight momentum in the city while also exposing how, she said, "Democratic Socialist" council members have held the city back from more progress.
- "I really don't think that it does any good to show gun fights from a year ago or three years ago, and think that that is a current representation of the state of our city."
Why it matters: Fitzgerald's comments during the RE Journal's annual Minneapolis Downtown Summit on Wednesday illustrate a divide among downtown real estate leaders over how they talk about the city.
- While almost all of them, including Fitzgerald, say downtown still needs more police presence, many are ready to turn the page on messaging. They want to showcase a central business district seeing a major return of office workers, a strong tourism rebound and a public safety scene that doesn't match perception.
What they're saying: "If us as professionals aren't talking about the great city of Minneapolis and all the great things that are here and that we like to do here, why is anyone else going to be convinced of that?" said Adam Neumann, a manager for Bigos Management, which owns several apartment buildings in the city.
The other side: Other leaders continue to paint Minneapolis as a dangerous place. Several sent the message during Wednesday's forum that unless voters get rid of the Democratic Socialists on the City Council, things won't improve.
- Redline Properties owner Andrew Webb said he is concerned about office worker safety.
- "How do I decide to go on the corner of Fifth and Nicollet and risk someone being stabbed walking to their car at 3 o'clock in the afternoon?" he said.
- Webb said in an email he'd heard about such a stabbing earlier this year, but didn't specify when.
- While there was a midnight stabbing on that corner in December, an MPD spokesperson said he was unaware of a daytime stabbing of an office worker and didn't locate one in a preliminary search.
Minnesota Multi Housing Association CEO Cecil Smith told the crowd that Kupchella's film points out realities that need to be dealt with in the city and state.
- Smith said "no comment" when asked if he helped fund the film, "A Precarious State," which Kupchella paid to have aired on ABC stations last week. The film depicts crime and real estate distress in the city, as well as statewide educational problems, poor job growth and out-migration to other states.
Between the lines: Kupchella has also declined to name his financial backers and did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The intrigue: The film spends a significant amount of time on Minneapolis' problems a month before a high stakes mayoral and city council election, but ignores St. Paul, which has a downtown with deeper struggles.
Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Adam Duinick said his organization didn't fund the film. He said while it does raise important topics to grapple with, the crime characterization is outdated and it should have been more balanced with positive trends in the city.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say the name of the film is "A Precarious State" (not "A Perilous State.")