A Closer Look with Laura Oakes: What does the future look like for downtown Minneapolis?

WCCO Radio is launching a new series this week, "A Closer Look with Laura Oakes."

Each month, Laura trades the anchor chair for longer-form storytelling, bringing you an inside look at some of the important issues facing our day-to-day lives, as well as some of the unique untold stories found right here in the Twin Cities.

First up, it's a closer look at the future of downtown Minneapolis.

It was business as usual in Minneapolis until it wasn't.

As people began to fall ill and even die from a virus for which there was no vaccine yet, the murder of George Floyd shook the nation and the city to its core.

Today, the downtown workforce is back most days of the week while at the same time 'For Lease' signs seem to dot every corner. The downtown vacancy rate of 21% and declining property values threaten to spike property taxes citywide.

In the meantime, Minneapolis leaders and developers are getting creative, doing things like converting unused office space into apartments. One such project is the Groove Lofts on 6th Street and 2nd Avenue.

"216 total units, 44 of which are affordable at 50% of the area median income, and under," says Mayor Jacob Frey. "This was a massive change."