One by one, a series of residents and community advocates connected to St. Paul’s Midway took a seat before the city’s legislative hearing officer on Tuesday morning to plead, in no uncertain terms, that City Hall order the demolition of what they described as the neighborhood’s most eyesore property — the shuttered CVS pharmacy store at Snelling and University avenues.
The building, erected between 2005 and 2007, has drawn loiterers, break-ins, litter and other signs of vagrancy and neglect since CVS permanently closed the location in April 2022. With a rooftop HVAC unit stripped bare by vandals and the exterior fenced and boarded, the site has become an unfortunate anchor to what was once one of St. Paul’s most prominent business corridors, said speaker after speaker, and a disincentive to move to or invest in the surrounding community.
“This is one of the oldest St. Paul intersections. This is on every Minnesota map,” said Nicole Brown, who can trace her family history in St. Paul back to 1895. Every summer, “2.5 million, at least, attend the Fair, and they see this. They talk about this. I work at the Fair.”
In addition to being surrounded by storefronts and housing, the site borders the Green Line light rail station and the A Line bus stops along Snelling, key transit connections that were once expected to inspire commerce. Instead, “my children have now taken opioid overdose classes and know when to call 911 instead of stepping around (prone loiterers) at this specific building,” Brown added.
Marcia Moermond, the city’s legislative hearing officer, said an order to abate nuisance building conditions was mailed to the property owner of record on Aug. 5, and it spelled out the need for a $5,000 performance deposit in advance of site improvements. Since then, after “almost two months, and no action on it,” Moermond said. “I don’t see movement right now.”
Uncertain ownership
An attorney representing CVS indicated the national pharmacy chain leases the site from a property owner, with whom CVS has had no recent contact. He indicated the company, which has had dealings with employees of the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections in the past, hopes to find another lessee for the site, which was fenced off within the past year. He said he had no other immediate information to share.
Property records show the site is owned by a limited liability corporation of ambiguous title (“Scp 2005 C21 045 Llc”) with a post office box in Spokane, Wash. The address, shared by dozens of companies, appears to be a “virtual post office box” — a service that allows companies to view scanned images of their mail or have their mail forwarded along to yet another address, further concealing their actual whereabouts.
“I’m not clear as to the actual relationship between CVS as the lessee and Scp 2005 C21 045 Llc in Spokane, Washington,” said Moermond, eliciting some wry chuckles from the audience.
Several speakers said they longed for the site to fall into local ownership and serve a community-driven purpose, such as affordable housing, a free clinic, grocery or some combination of all of the above. Even before CVS opened at the site, community groups like the now-defunct University United expressed concern that an out-of-state corporate retail chain building one story of commerce with faux upper levels would not serve as the highest and best use of the property.
“You get the community you plan for,” said Lily Eggers, who is active with the Hamline-Midway Street Corps, a working group of the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America. “You get the community you build for.”
In community meetings, some skeptics have said the area already hosts an overconcentration of charitable efforts such as the new emergency overnight shelter at Central Baptist Church and housing for the recently homeless provided by Beacon Interfaith on Snelling Avenue.
Dr. Bill McGuire — owner of the Minnesota United soccer team, and a key player in development plans around Allianz Field — has said the CVS site needs to become market-rate housing or another tony use, which could help provide tax base for the city and customers for the surrounding businesses of Little Africa.
Key vote on Nov. 5
The St. Paul City Council is scheduled to consider the abatement order on Nov. 5, and Moermond said it was her immediate inclination to recommend at that time that the council order the property owner to remove the site rather than repair it. If approved by the council, the owner would then have 15 days to demolish the building, or it would fall to the city to put demolition out to bid and follow through with a hazardous materials inspection and utility disconnections, a process that could take several weeks.
If the city demolishes the building, the costs will be assessed to the property owner. If the owner were to simply walk away from the site, it will lapse into tax forfeiture and be transferred to Ramsey County. The city’s demolition costs would eventually be recouped through a land sale, which the county would oversee.
Pointing to tall grass and litter collecting in nearby vacant lots, some residents expressed concern that if the property owner simply sits on the lot without selling it, it would remain a dirt lot for the foreseeable future.
It’s also possible, said Moermond, that CVS or the property owner comes forward with formal plans to abate nuisance conditions at the site before the council convenes on Nov. 5. She said she planned to review any comments or plans submitted to the city on Oct. 28.
“The public record is still open and we could get a pile of paperwork from anybody on this,” said Moermond, noting any new information submitted to the city could impact her recommendation.
In addition to the $5,000 performance deposit, Moermond said the property owner will need to provide a complete abatement plan laying out future lighting, cameras, bids for trade labor improvements in particular parts of the building and other evidence of a detailed scope of work.
“I don’t have any of these things right now,” she said.
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