Plaza Del Sol, a new commercial hub for Latino entrepreneurs on St. Paul’s East Side, has opened after years of construction delays and a final stretch of disruption tied to federal immigration enforcement nearby. The Latino Economic Development Center’s renovated center on Payne Avenue in Payne-Phalen brings food businesses, event space and small-business support under one roof.
The nonprofit Latino Economic Development Center, or LEDC, bought the failing commercial center in 2020, saving it from foreclosure, according to twincities.com. Renovations on the former furniture-store building began three years before the Star Tribune's opening story. The project encountered setbacks from COVID-19, the George Floyd unrest, inflation, construction surprises and federal immigration enforcement, according to that reporting. The Star Tribune, in coverage by Dee DePass, put the cost at $11 million; bizjournals.com also described it as an $11 million project, while a 2024 minnpost.com report estimated the cost at about $10 million.
The finished center includes five restaurants, a bar, an event center, a commissary kitchen, a small-business development center and LEDC headquarters offices. Its event space seats 250, according to the Star Tribune. The funding package included $5 million in loans from Minnesota's economic development arm, a $1 million congressional grant and $2 million in loans from Alerus, according to startribune.com. Congress, the Minnesota Legislature, the city of St. Paul, Alerus Bank, U.S. Bank, LISC and Propel also contributed, the Star Tribune reported.
Enforcement disrupted plans before opening
Federal immigration enforcement affected the project’s final stretch. In January, Kristi Noem led a raid by dozens of ICE agents at the building across the street from Plaza Del Sol. In the following weeks, agents patrolled the plaza’s entrances, nearby streets and businesses, according to the Star Tribune. LEDC’s Alma Flores said food businesses that had signed leases canceled their contracts, while the center also lost bookings for weddings and birthday events after word of the enforcement activity spread, the paper reported.
LEDC considered making Plaza Del Sol a general business project rather than a Latino-focused one, Flores said, but the organization ultimately kept its original focus, according to the Star Tribune. The disruptions also affected prospective tenants: a separate account reported that interest from more than 50 businesses had fallen amid uncertainty after Operation Metro Surge. The operation brought 3,000 or more federal agents to the Twin Cities for about three months and forced immigrants into hiding, according to bizjournals.com.
Vendors use the hub to relaunch and grow
Alex Castaneda’s St. Paul coffee-roasting business was shut down for four months in January after his landlord closed the building during Operation Metro Surge. Plaza Del Sol gave him a place to restart, and he joined two other businesses to open Deli, Cheese, Coffee, the partners’ first store, according to the Star Tribune. One partner had spent years making Venezuelan artisanal cheeses in another commercial kitchen before that business closed during the crackdown. Castaneda hopes the venture can eventually grow to 25 stores, the paper reported.
Yohana Garcia, who makes artisan cheeses with her husband, opened the Deli, Cheese, Coffee food stall, the Star Tribune reported. Isaac Mendez moved his home-based delivery and catering business, Bien Dorados, into a brick-and-mortar stall and served taquitos and guacamole at the plaza’s open house. Before the launch, LEDC named Bien Dorados, La Moreliana and Valentina’s as food-hall vendors opening Oct. 1 and said it was still recruiting applicants for the food hall, commissary kitchen and event center, according to ledcmn.org. A later report described those three eateries as open, with a fourth likely on the way, alongside a commissary kitchen beneath a second-floor wedding hall and event center, per twincities.com.
Public investment backs the center’s next phase
Project leaders marked the completion at the end of October. U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her attended, according to the Star Tribune. McCollum had secured $1 million in congressional funding for Plaza Del Sol and said she was proud LEDC persevered during Operation Metro Surge, the paper reported. Her office said the funding was for rehabilitation and that the site would house at least eight small businesses on St. Paul’s East Side, according to mccollum.house.gov. LEDC board chair Carlos Lopez described the center’s goal as creating economic vitality and mobility in the diverse community, the Star Tribune reported.
LEDC’s plans include training hundreds of aspiring caterers and food-business owners, while helping launch full-sized restaurants and bakeries within two years, Flores said, according to the Star Tribune. The paper also cited Minnesota Compass data showing that more than half of Payne-Phalen households earn less than $75,000 a year and 46% of residents speak a language other than English. Organizers see the incubator as a way to help local food businesses grow.
Payne-Phalen in context
The City of Saint Paul’s 2023 Railroad Island strategy plan lists Payne-Phalen’s population as 33,644, based on 2020 U.S. Census and Minnesota Compass data, according to the City of Saint Paul.
The effects of the surge extended beyond Payne Avenue
The disruption reported at Plaza Del Sol was part of a wider downturn for some Latino-owned businesses. In Minneapolis, business owners and city leaders said at Latino Business Week that federal immigration enforcement had slowed business over the winter, according to mprnews.org. The city approved relief money for events intended to help businesses recover lost income during Operation Metro Surge, and the city held its third annual Latino Business Week through Oct. 11 with events encouraging people to shop at Latino-owned businesses, the report said. Rodrigo Cardoso said Mercado Central had seen some businesses close permanently while others struggled to keep up. In St. Paul, Plaza Del Sol operator Heriberto Gonzalez offered a more hopeful assessment: “People are coming back,” he said, according to twincities.com.
