A developer is asking neighbors to buy in and own part of a north Minneapolis mall

A Chicago-based social enterprise company is purchasing the Hawthorn Crossings strip mall in north Minneapolis, promising it will build local wealth and support community development in one of the Twin Cities’ lowest-income and most diverse neighborhoods.

Lyneir Richardson, co-founder and CEO of Chicago Trend, is undertaking a crowdfunding campaign, asking nearby residents to invest a minimum of $1,000 into the Hawthorn Crossings project. He seeks to make the strip mall 49% community owned, saying that ownership of commercial real estate on West Broadway will empower the neighborhood.

“Anyone can invest. I call the effort intentionally inclusive,” Richardson said. “I am making an extra effort to invite local people to invest. … Our theory of that is that if local people invest, it’ll make the investment likely more successful because local people will care about it and protect it.”

With the remaining 51% of the property ownership remaining in Chicago Trend’s hands, the company intends to fully lease the strip mall. Based on past projects, company officials expect to own the property for at least 10 years. By 2036, they expect the return on investment to triple.

The social enterprise started by Richardson in 2016 already owns six shopping centers across the country. Having grown up in one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in West Chicago, he is passionate about revitalizing Black neighborhoods through commercial property ownership.

In Richardson’s past purchases, his investors were approximately 70% local and 30% outsiders. In an interview in early July, he declined to release the names of investors or say how many were from the North Side. But he said he would release the information after the crowdfunding campaign wrapped up.

With the rising threat of gentrification, wealth leaving the neighborhoods and the difficulty of low and middle-income residents purchasing property in north Minneapolis, Richardson comes in with a potential solution.

“When neighborhoods change, people often fear gentrification,” Richardson said. “One of the ways to deal with gentrification is for low- and moderate-income people having ownerships. So as the neighborhood gets better, we’re not just workers. … We have a little passive ownership stake. If the neighborhood changes and gets stronger, our financial condition will benefit as well.”

In 2023, McKnight Foundation invested in Richardson’s fund to support its mission. The Minnesota-based foundation requested that Trend’s next purchase be in the Twin Cities.

In a meeting, Warren McLean, president of the community-based Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), sold Richardson on the Hawthorn Crossings site. It is located across the street from NEON. To McLean, north Minneapolis was the place that needed Chicago Trend’s initiative most.

“(NEON’s) vision is to transform north Minneapolis into a prosperous, physical, sustainable, highly diverse, multicultural community of entrepreneurs with emphasis on the word transformation,” McLean said. “I believe that if we get a hold of the shopping center, it would be a huge step in that direction.”

Among the project’s advocates and investors is the Rev. Alfred Babington-Johnson, founder and CEO of Stairstep Foundation and a North Side resident of 60 years. Chicago Trend’s mission immediately appealed to him.

“It was absolutely consistent with what we are interested in, which is community empowerment, capacity building and access to areas that have heretofore been off-limits,” Babington-Johnson said.

Babington-Johnson hosted numerous community gatherings, which allowed community members and North Side residents to get to know Richardson and his project. Some community leaders and residents were impressed and chose to follow Babington-Johnson’s example and invest. Others were skeptical, saying there was a lack of clarity and security for the investors.

Kristel Porter, executive director of the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, is among the skeptics. The coalition works with many business owners in the area, including some at the strip mall. In her role, Porter has seen projects such as Richardson’s rise and fail in north Minneapolis.

“We just want to make sure that people aren’t further harmed,” Porter said. “We have a lot of people that come into the North Side and promise investment, promise development … A little joke around here is that north Minneapolis is a testing ground for a lot of different projects … It doesn’t necessarily mean that you fast forward 10 years later and that it’s going to be all good.”

One of her key concerns is that Chicago Trend has not yet bought the property. She also worries about the impact should the investors not get their $1,000 back.

“If they haven’t closed on the property yet, there’s nothing in stone,” Porter said. “It’s not written that they own it, and so what if a bunch of North Siders invest $1,000, and then they don’t get their money back?”

Richardson understands these sorts of hesitations, but remains confident that many people will be able to afford to invest.

“People can invest $1,000, if they want to and see the value in it; $1,000 is certainly not an obstacle for families in that neighborhood,” Richardson said. “But here’s what I suggest, it’s an invitation. If someone can invest or decides not to invest, I only ask two things: still shop at the shopping center and say a prayer of success for us. We want you to still feel a part of this as the neighborhood gets stronger.”

Chicago Trend is scheduled to finalize the purchase of Hawthorn Crossings by Aug. 31.

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This story was originally published by Sahan Journal and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.