The University of Minnesota has scooped up Station 19, the century-old former firehouse at 2001 University Ave SE that now holds a Buffalo Wild Wings and sits directly across from Huntington Bank Stadium. With the deal, the university now controls a high-visibility Dinkytown corner that has long been surrounded by campus property and flooded with gameday foot traffic.
What the university bought
According to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, the university purchased the mixed-use former firehouse known as Station 19 at 2001 University Ave SE. The building sits right across University Avenue from Huntington Bank Stadium and is tucked into a pocket of parcels the university already owns, placing it firmly on the campus stadium edge.
Station 19's history and footprint
An offering memorandum from Results Commercial details the building’s stats: roughly 15,570 gross square feet on about 0.46 acres, with a street-level restaurant, offices on the upper floor, a rooftop patio, and a small conference room facing the stadium. The memorandum notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has occupied the main and lower levels since December 2010, while the upper floor, which had long housed Station 19 Architects, was vacated in 2022. The same document lists the construction date as 1893 and pitches the property as a redevelopment opportunity.
Why developers and the university care
The property has been marketed as a rare redevelopment site in a prime stadium-edge location, and brokers signaled to prospective buyers that the university was a likely taker. Finance & Commerce reported on the listing last year and noted that the parcel is zoned CM3 for community mixed use, a designation that can allow roughly 10 floors under current rules, while the marketing materials suggested that a rezoning for even higher density might find support from city planning staff. That combination of zoning potential, stadium views, and campus adjacency helps explain why the university moved to bring the corner into its portfolio.
What comes next for Buffalo Wild Wings and the block
The offering memorandum describes the Buffalo Wild Wings lease on the main and lower levels as a net lease, which means any near-term redevelopment would have to work around the tenant’s lease rights and timing. For now, the purchase simply hands the university direct control of a marquee corner in Dinkytown and the flexibility to steer future uses, whether that ultimately involves preserving the historic facade, reworking the existing building, or eventually folding the parcel into a larger campus project. Permits, planning filings, or a formal university statement are likely to clarify the timeline and signal what is next for the building and its tenants.
