Tennis to anchor Upper Harbor Terminal’s “Health Hub”

A multi-use sports facility has been proposed for the Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) development.

At a June 26 meeting at the Northpoint Conference Center, the principals behind the development of the Upper Harbor Terminal project gave presentations on a proposal for the project’s Health and Wellness hub.  

Tom Strohm, senior development manager with United Properties, the UHT project’s developer, said  Northside developer Devean George’s nonprofit Building Blocks, a partner with United Properties for affordable housing, reached out to InnerCity Tennis (ICT), which was looking for a new home. United Properties saw that an anchor organization like ICT was needed that, Strohm said, “is collaborative and shares their vision.”

ICT Executive Director John Wheaton said his people have been working with North Minneapolis youth at their Southside facility, and saw an opportunity to get a Northside space, “where we could build larger courts, larger spaces, and more classrooms, because we are much more than tennis.” He said the organization became
“really excited” when a larger parcel became available.

ICT is a sports-based, youth development nonprofit founded in 1952 that offers youth tennis lessons in Minneapolis parks. It currently operates the 11-court Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in south Minneapolis, where the ICT provides year-round tennis programs including lessons, leagues, competitions and court rentals.

ICT came to North Minneapolis in 2002, providing coaches for in- and after-school programming at nine north Minneapolis schools. ICT recently opened a year-round Northside Program Center at Family Baptist church, providing sports, mentoring and academic support. 

Wheaton said ICT can’t continue their positive impact on the youth of North Minneapolis without a dedicated facility, and they are proposing a multi-sport community center for the Health and Wellness Hub.

A Q&A sheet from ICT described its vision is for a facility, “where people of all ages, all ability levels, and a variety of sports interests can enjoy physical activity, social connection, with coaches for youth that care and support them.” 

The facility would have 12 courts: eight tennis courts and four multisport courts. Eight tennis courts are for youth and adults and can host high school matches and larger tournaments. Four multisport courts can be turned into four full basketball courts, four volleyball courts and four indoor soccer courts, or 12 pickleball courts or a combination of the above.

 ICT would own and operate the Health and Wellness Hub. The City of Minneapolis will own the land, about 10 acres, and through a long-term ground lease, a developer would finance, construct and own the building.  United Properties would likely support ICT in traditional real estate development activities (design, entitlements, construction, etc.) and would get a market-based fee for that.

ICT Associate Director John Bussey said, “This meeting is a massive privilege for us. … to stand in front of you and … make this proposal, and hear your ideas is … incredibly appreciated. The amount of thought that’s gone into this is overwhelming. We’ve heard … from a lot of people that there are … amazing coaches who are not ICT staff, who run clinics, who run programs, who run teams in other areas, and would love high quality spots to rent courts and then functionally run their small businesses out of our space. We would love to see that happen and have those courts become a hub of activity, not just for ICT, but for other people coming in and making their things happen and again, whether that’s basketball, volleyball or something else.”

United Properties’ Strohm gave a brief update on the project’s status. He said a great deal of technical issues have been dealt with, and the streets and utilities infrastructures are in place. He noted a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by city leaders.

James Trice of the Public Policy Project said, “You heard a lot about InnerCity Tennis, and people assumed that that’s all that’s going to be in the building, but this is the Health Hub, right? It doesn’t say tennis and coordinator hub; it says Health Hub, and InnerCity Tennis is a tenant. It’s an anchor tenant that’s going to be there but we’re going to look for other tenants to provide other health resources for the community. So it’s not just sports.”