At the Annual Meeting & Celebration in December, SCCA gave out the annual Honor Roll Awards, which include a beautiful wooden plaque created by Wood From the Hood. The 2016 Awardees were the Seward Towers Corporation and Kayf Ahmed & Scot Isqoox, the owners of Capitol Café. In addition, Pizza Lucé and Garland’s Inc. received letters of recognition for their community work. We are also pleased to welcome Kayf Ahmed to the SCCA Board of Directors.
Joe Buck Kayf Ahmed & Scot Isqoox of Capitol Café accept their Honor Roll Award from SCCA Board President, Joe Buck.
Kayf Ahmed & Scot Isqoox of Capitol Café
SCCA’s Board of Directors selected Scot & Kayf, owners of Capitol Café, for the impact they have had on Seward in the two years they have owned the Café. They have brought East African food, with an American touch, to our neighborhood that is healthy, beautiful and delicious. Their teas, coffees and smoothies are famous throughout Minneapolis and bring new folks to visit Franklin Avenue each week. They also reached out to Resource, Inc. and hired employees that needed an extra hand, going the extra mile to overcome barriers such as English language skills, that might have prevented employees from retaining a job elsewhere. They fully participate in making Seward a wonderful place to live and work by supporting neighborhood organizations and causes with donations of food and time. In particular their involvement with the Franklin Open Streets event helped SCCA greatly increased the participation of the East African community and as a result greatly enriched the experience for all Open Streets participants.
Diann Anders, Board President of Seward Towers Corporation, accepts the award from Joe Buck and Jim Welna.
Seward Towers Corporation
SCCA’s Board of Directors selected the Seward Towers Corporation as a 2016 Honor Roll Award recipient to recognize the tremendous work that led to retaining the local governance of the Seward Towers in the recent $95 million refinancing of the properties. The refinancing made possible $60,000 of improvements to each of the 640 units, upgrades to all major building systems such as heating, plumbing, electrical and fire protection systems, improved entrances that increase security of the buildings, and enhancements to Triangle Park. The refinancing also extends the affordability of units for an additional 20 years.
Seward Towers continues to be a partnership between Seward Neighborhood Group, Seward Redesign, Seward Towers residents, and CommonBond Communities. Since 1990, representatives from all have served as equal voting members on the Seward Towers Corporation board. The partnership is unique in the country, insuring formal local control and community engagement. With millions of dollars involved, and from a wide range of sources, typical refinancing agreements do not provide for the kind of partnership and local involvement that exists at Seward Towers. It was a major achievement to negotiate a deal that maintained that unique collaboration.
