Committee authorizes $871,500 design contract for Minneapolis Democracy Center at 3000 Minnehaha Ave

The Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee on April 7 authorized a contract with LSE Architects for architectural and engineering design services to convert the city-owned building at 3000 Minnehaha Avenue into the Minneapolis Democracy Center, which will house the Elections and Voter Services division.

Clerk Casey Carl told the committee the contract would be "in an amount not to exceed $871,500" to cover architectural and engineering design, construction administration and cost estimating services for the project. The committee approved the contract by voice vote; Council Member Ellison moved approval and Council Member Vitale seconded.

The democracy center is intended to consolidate the city’s election operations, which are currently spread across leased space, into a single, city-owned facility said Carl. The project includes space reserved for an 8,000-square-foot ground-level area intended for a community partner. Carl said the contract would be paid from reallocation of unspent 2023 election-year budget savings as included in resolution 2024 R 418.

Barbara O’Brien, director of Property Services, described the procurement and schedule: the city issued an RFP in December 2024, received eight proposals, shortlisted four firms and conducted interviews. Property Services plans a design kickoff in May; staff and the architect will return to elected leaders in August with a schematic design presentation and then continue to construction documents through December 2025, with construction bidding anticipated in January 2026.

Mohammed Lawal, chief executive officer and principal architect for Lawal Scott Erickson (LSE) Architects, said his firm will focus on programming and schematic design that repurposes and transforms the existing building at Minnehaha and Lake Street. "This would be one of the highest honors for us as a firm to work with the city of Minneapolis and your property services on the Minneapolis Democracy Center," Lawal said.

Committee members noted the project’s history and community interest. Ellison said he had changed his view after colleagues explained community concerns and praised the firm’s community experience; Vitale seconded the motion and thanked the firm for applying.

Staff emphasized the contract contains an explicit feedback point: after initial schematic work, staff and LSE will present proposed layouts and design concepts to the council so elected leaders can provide input at a stage when changes can still be incorporated. No construction contract was approved at this meeting; the action authorized design services only.

The committee recorded the approval by voice vote; no roll-call tally identifying individual yes/no votes was read into the record.