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Eveleth says $3.6 million loan approved to rehab grocery building; work paused until roof can be installed
Summary
City officials said the Eve Economic Development Authority and IRRB approved a $3.6 million nonrecourse loan to rehabilitate a building for a local grocery operator; winter delayed installation of the roof and officials said contractor schedules and one holdup within project partners slowed work.
EVELETH — City officials told residents that the Eve Economic Development Authority and the IRRB have approved a $3.6 million nonrecourse loan to rehabilitate an existing building for a local grocery entrepreneur, and that roof installation has been delayed by winter and partner scheduling.
Mayor Adam Rowan said the EDA and IRRB approval will allow rehabilitation rather than demolition of the existing building and that a local, non‑franchised group is under consideration to operate the store. “We were approved for $3.6 million from the IT R. It's a nonreourse loan to update the building for [a] new grocery store,” Rowan said.
Rowan said the developer group has been working with the city and IRRB for nearly a year and is not a short‑term proposal. He added that coordination among multiple parties — the IRRB, the city, building owners and lenders — delayed progress this winter. “It just takes one person in a group of five that were involved in this between the ILR, the city, the owners, etc., the banks to hold the whole thing up,” Rowan said. “They held it up long enough that kept us from being able to put a roof on it before the winter.”
City staff said the construction manager is selected or shortly to be approved by the EDA and that the city expects to proceed as soon as contractors can work and the roof is on. Officials declined to name the prospective grocer at residents’ request but said the building will be rehabilitated and “fresh” inside while preserving memories of the former store and its local significance.
Timing remains uncertain: Rowan said the city hopes to see the grocery open before next winter if the roof and interior work proceed quickly, but that “it could be six months or a year” depending on contractor schedules and outstanding approvals.
What’s next: the EDA will finalize the construction manager and release the rehabilitated building to the local grocery entrepreneur; the city will update residents when the roof is scheduled and when interior work can begin.
