Hauenstein Burmeister Demolition Underway

The former Hauenstein Burmeister building at 2629 30th Ave S, is being demolished this month by its owner, realty company Kraus Anderson. There has been fairly strong neighborhood resistance to the idea of losing the existing building, which could have been reused as a home for one or more manufacturing companies, continuing to serve as a job base for the neighborhood. Redesign approached the owners to look at the feasibility of acquiring the building for that purpose in late summer, but the building was subsequently taken off the market. Our understanding at this time is that the owners are taking the building down as a first step to building some kind of housing on the site. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Seward Co-op is New Tenant at the Franklin Creamery Building

As of November, Desiring God, a faith-based publisher that had occupied the historic Franklin Creamery building for several years, vacated the space, and the Seward Co-op has leased it to provide additional office space for their staff as well as hopefully building out the first floor to expand their bakery and meat department functions, which have substantially outgrown the space allotted to them in the store.  The Co-op plans to invest heavily in the building to handle deferred maintenance issues, including new windows, a passenger elevator, a new roof, and an updated interior. There is a possibility in the longer run that some type of retail space would be built out that would be open to the public. For more information on the building’s rich history in cooperative business, check out this article from My Broadsheet.