A dead mall
Minneapolis is one of my favorite cities in the world. And the Uptown area of Minneapolis is one of my favorite neighborhoods. Back when I worked for Northwest Airlines and made quite a few visits to the city in the aughts, the densely populated locale to the south of downtown was always worth a visit just for the vibe as well as its diminutive neighborhood mall, then known as Calhoun Square.
Calhoun Square in 2003.
1- Seven Points Uptown’s main entrance at the corner of Hennepin and Lake. 2- The entrance doors. 3 & 4- The backside of the mall. 5 & 6- The façade facing Lake.
A trip to Calhoun Square was also always in the plans for the amazing Thai cuisine at Chiang Mai Thai restaurant which, unfortunately, shut down in 2015. There was also a little gelato place where I got my first ever taste of the frozen Italian treat. People watching the diverse patronage of the center was also a delight, as the neighborhood hosting the facility was just as varied and colorful.
Calhoun Square pamphlet ca. 2010. View the full PDF here.
Twenty years had passed before I finally made a return visit to the Twin Cities in 2024. Much like so many inner ring neighborhoods, the streets around the intersection of Lake and Hennepin are gentrifying quicky and there wasn’t a whole lot that I recognized. This I expected. What I found at what is now known as Seven Points Uptown was not expected.
Seven Points Uptown’s northern interior.
There was no more gelato shop, just an LA Fitness that took up most of the upper tier space and signs begging people to visit the Jimmy John’s, which was still open, they promise. The rest of Seven Points Uptown was left darkened and vacant; it was a sad shell of the place that I had learned to love all of those years ago. This one hit me rather hard.
Calhoun Square lease plan ca. 2011. View the full PDF here.
Built from the consolidation of several older, extant structures including the 1917 built Geanakoplos Building, Calhoun Square opened in 1984 on the southeast corner of one of Uptown’s busiest intersections. Though initially opposed by many of the surrounding residents, its offering of local fare soon attracted those same people.
The main central concourse of Seven Points Uptown.
Calhoun Square’s ownership remained local throughout the center’s first two decades when in 2004, Ray Harris sold his creation. It was subsequently resold in 2007 to an affiliate of BlackRock Inc. The new owner’s vision for the retail destination veered sharply from its original intent as the New York based holders sought to bring in more national names.
The southern portion of Seven Points Uptown, including the escalators that seem to have been shut down for a while.
During the ensuing years, well-known companies such as LA Fitness, H&M clothing store, Famous Dave’s restaurant, Arc’teryx outerwear and Timberland shoes added their own labels to the mallmanac. As of this writing, however, LA Fitness is the only one of these national brands still occupying space.
Calhoun Square lease plan ca. 2020. View the full PDF here.
In 2020, the name of the facility was changed to Seven Points Uptown in reference to the seven pointed crown the building wears on its northwestern corner. New local owners have struggled to recapture the local vibe of Calhoun Square in its earlier days as the majority of the vendors have moved on.
1- The southern entrance facing Hennepin. 2 to 6- Seven Points Uptown’s western facing exterior.
Seven Points Uptown has been tagged for a complete redevelopment into apartments, an outdoor plaza and additional mixed-use space. Soon, what was unique within its own neighborhood will be indecipherable from any of the many apartment blocks sprouting up along West Lake Street. But its time as a purely retail destination has long passed, along with the vibe of the neighborhood I used to love.
Seven Points Uptown pamphlet ca. 2024. View the full PDF here.
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