After years of neighbors grumbling about the boarded-up CVS on the corner of University Avenue West and Snelling Avenue, heavy machinery and fresh fencing rolled in this week to prep the site for demolition. The long-vacant store, closed since 2022, has racked up regular police calls and daily complaints from nearby businesses and residents. For many in the Midway, the sight of activity on the lot feels like a long-awaited crack in a stubborn stalemate.
The city ordered the building torn down late last year after repeatedly failing to push the absentee owner to clean up the property. A teardown originally slated for March was postponed more than once before crews finally returned to stage the job this week, according to the Star Tribune.
City orders and contractor
City records show that a legislative hearing officer recommended demolition, and the City Council voted to formally order the razing of 499 Snelling Ave N, with the order and exhibits available in the City of Saint Paul legislative database. The council’s November decision followed an August placard declaring the property a nuisance, and the city has hired Veit Construction to handle structural removal. Demolition costs will be assessed to the owner, according to the Pioneer Press.
Neighbors and public-safety concerns
Ward 4 Councilmember Molly Coleman called the move overdue, telling the Star Tribune, “Sometimes progress looks like putting up a building. Sometimes it looks like taking down a building.” Residents have long argued that the fenced-off lot has been a magnet for loitering, vandalism, and open-air drug use, and neighborhood groups, along with city records have logged hundreds of police visits in recent years. City leaders framed the council’s action as a way to remove a persistent drag on safety and redevelopment along the busy corridor.
What could replace the site
Neighbors and local officials say any rebuild is likely to plug into broader redevelopment plans around Allianz Field and the United Village concept, with talk of everything from restaurants to hotel and office space, as reported by Axios. Clearing the high-profile corner could help make the stretch of University more appealing to future investment, according to coverage in Streets.mn.
Before anything new can rise on the site, the contractor must finish utility shutoffs and hazardous-material checks. If the owner fails to pay up for the demolition work, the city has said it will recoup costs through property assessments, according to local reporting. For Midway residents who have watched the corner decay for years, even a bare lot would be a step up from the boarded box they have been staring at.
