Minneapolis buys new Third Precinct site for $10M

The future home of Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct Police Station has been purchased by the city for $10 million, according to a certificate of real estate value.

The Minneapolis City Council agreed to make the print shop building the new location in an 8-5 vote in early November. Located at 2633 Minnehaha Ave. S., the property is just a few blocks of the old Third Precinct, which was destroyed in the civil unrest after a police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020.

The property was originally a warehouse for the Shakopee-based Imagine! Print Solutions. According to 2024 property tax records, it was built in 1994 and is worth $6.5 million. A Catylist listing says that the 78,350 square-foot building sits on 3.3 acres.

The city considered six sites for the new precinct location. Barbara O’Brien, the city’s director of property services, said that the warehouse could provide the city with the mix of warehouse and office space required for the community safety center, which will also be located on the property.

Brian Feintech, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Office of Community Safety said in an email statement the city plans to open the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center by the end of the first quarter of 2025. As for when police will start moving into the building, that hasn’t been decided yet.

“And as has been shared with City Council the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct will not move into the building until some of the other, yet-to-be-determined services are already sited and operating there,” Feintech said in an email.

In a November press release, Mayor Jacob Frey said the building would be built out in nine months. The City Council put aside $4 million for the property’s repurposing as a police station. Frey, in the release, said the city anticipates the building being occupiable within the next year.

Another $7.5 million to $8 million is the cost of building the community safety center, according to previous reporting by Finance & Commerce, making the end-product cost about $22 million.

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