Black Entrepreneur To Renovate 68,000-Square-Foot Building To Serve Small Business Owners in Minneapolis

Entrepreneur Jesse Ross has made a solid effort to redevelop a building that will serve as a home for small business owners in the North Minneapolis community.

Ross, an activist, has worked with other community leaders serving as a speaker and leader for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), According to CBS News.

He also serves as the founder of a multimillion-dollar partnership initiative with the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board called the Wealth Redistribution Project.

The project aims to create a commercial rental space for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and women-owned businesses and provide them an opportunity to have a landlord who looks like them, is from their community, and understands their challenges.

“So many people in a lot of the DEI work that I do…have said to me, ‘I don’t know what to do. I wish I could do more. Our company should be doing more.’ Here is a practical opportunity,” Ross said in his interview with CBS News.

According to CBS News, the 68,000-square-foot building, located on the 2500 block of North Second Street between other area redevelopments, is secured by Ross for all but 5% of the multimillion-dollar project.

The outlet added that Ross plans to close on the property by the end of 2022.

“Creating ownership in a space that’s in the middle of those two vibrant geographic locations, I think is very important for those business owners, for the residents, and for everybody who is to come,” Ross said in the interview.

“I do feel responsible for making sure that I’m a good steward of my resources, but also that other people are a good steward of their opportunities to contribute resources.”

Following the anticipated property acquisition, renovations are expected to begin in 2023 with a six-month projection to complete.

Ross hopes the building will be ready for a soft opening in the summer of 2023.