Location
City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Overview
Once the symbol of a declining commercial area, the Brooklyn Center Downtown Master Plan is a symbol of the community’s visions and dreams for what the core of the community can become.
Sectors
Following the closure of Brookdale Mall, Brooklyn Center experienced two decades of decline to its commercial core. The Brookdale Mall closed in 1990, and surrounding businesses followed suit. With a strong ownership stake, the city commissioned a plan to create a vision for a new downtown.
Bolton & Menk completed a series of linked initiatives to develop a master plan and implementation plan for the district. The team oversaw all the infrastructure, zoning revisions, development reviews, and policy changes necessary to transform the district into a walkable and transit-oriented mixed-use community delivering broad community benefits. The planning effort included integration of transit improvements for both the C Line and D Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), both of which have a terminus point in the city’s commercial core near the redevelopment area.
The project was grounded in an ambitious and extensive engagement process focused on listening to and empowering a highly diverse community. Engagement included online and in-person events, work with students and youth, partner-based initiatives targeting diverse immigrant communities, arts-based activities, and formation of equitable community benefit strategies. Since completion of the plan, the city has broken ground on 750 new units, an event center, entrepreneurial marketplace, and a new regional park.
