Listen to this articleResurrecting Faith World Ministries is seeking city approvals related to its plans to build a conference center on part of an 80-acre city-owned property in Brooklyn Center, the first phase of a major redevelopment that would bring hundreds of new housing units and other uses to the site.
Resurrecting Faith is asking the Brooklyn Center City Council to approve a “purchase option agreement” for a portion of the property. Known as the former Brookdale Square and Brookdale Ford site, the property is bordered by Shingle Creek Parkway, Bass Lake Road and John Martin Drive.
The request was scheduled to go before the City Council on Monday night.
The project would include a “single-story 26,500-square-foot conference center with 24-hour childcare and wellness and barber suites,” according to a city staff report.
“Resurrecting Faith is in the process of securing the necessary sources of funds to help complete the project,” the staff report says. “In addition to traditional borrowing, new market tax credits, and tax increment financing, grants for the project are also being sought. Many grant funding agencies require the applicant to demonstrate site control of their development property to secure a grant award.”
The Resurrecting Faith project is “one piece of a larger redevelopment” on an 80-acre site, said Jesse Anderson, Brooklyn Center’s deputy community development director. “This is part of phase one, which is about 15 acres and includes five different buildings.”
As previously reported, the project also includes new housing.
Finance & Commerce reported in 2022 that Alatus envisions 295 market-rate apartments in a four- to six-story building and 215 mixed-income homes in a separate two-to six-story structure. The developer is partnering with Project for Pride in Living on the affordable housing.
Anderson said Monday that the two-building PPL project includes six units in one building and 70 units in the other.
The projects will probably be back for additional City Council approvals in spring or summer of next year, Anderson said.
Chris Osmundson, Alatus’ chief operating officer, said in a 2022 letter to the city that the site will be “both fiscally and economically sustainable. Residential developments [within the site] will achieve LEED Certifications and/or Well Built Certifications to ensure a high threshold of livability for all resident populations.”
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