🏚️ New buyer in line for Elsa's House of Sleep building
The latest plan for the long-boarded property, perhaps the neighborhood's most-wondered-about vacancy.
The long-boarded Elsa's House of Sleep property at 36th and Lake, perhaps the neighborhood's most-wondered-about vacancy, has a new prospective future.
Of course, it's not the first time onlookers have heard of a new plan for the site. Since it shuttered in 2019, the prominent corner building has been boarded, burned, partially rebuilt, redesigned, and decorated by artists and vandals alike. The city gave notice to condemn it, then backed off, then actually condemned it, then cleared the newer units to be rented. Owner Tetra Constantino's stated plan has been that he'd keep it, then that he'd lease it, then that he'd sell it, again that he'd keep it, and again that he'd sell it. It has at various points been credibly rumored to become a refreshed version of the furniture store, a yoga studio, a dispensary, and an apartment redevelopment.
It's been a lot to keep track of.
Now, there's a new plan in motion. Local developer Kenneth Bush has an agreement to purchase the property, and hopes to fix it up and lease it in its current configuration.
Background
The building dates back to 1915, originally a grocery store on an important intersection of two streetcar lines. It's best known in the twentieth century as Ostrom's Sporting Goods, where Longfellow native Ray Ostrom and his wife, Norma, lived downstairs and operated a shop that brought a little-known fishing lure invented in Finland — Rapala — to the United States in 1960.
After Ostrom's, it hosted a series of short-lived businesses, including a copy shop, international grocer, and video rental store. The family behind Elsa's House of Sleep — which matriarch Elsa Rezene opened in 1997 on University Avenue in St. Paul — purchased the building as a second showroom and warehouse in 2012.
That's when the aforementioned complications began. They closed for renovation, which was derailed by the pandemic and later the civil unrest that further damaged the building. The ramshackle units on the north end of the building were demolished and rebuilt in 2023, the same year a group of artists held a much-publicized installation of mesh murals hung on the construction fencing that surrounded the property.
When last featured here in 2024, owner Tetra Constantino — Elsa's son who has operated the business since she died in 2004 — had recently scrapped his plan to reopen the showroom. To stave off condemnation from the city, he'd converted the newly-built units into a short-lived mattress showroom and was pursuing a plan to rebuild the corner space for a local yoga studio.
The yoga studio ultimately fell through, as did subsequent attempts to lease it as a dispensary and sell it for an apartment redevelopment. It's been officially condemned since last summer and has been rumored to be facing foreclosure.
New plan
That's the situation Kenneth Bush found when he first heard of the building. Bush is a Rochester-based construction manager who has been pursuing his first development project at 28th and Lake, a 13-unit affair on the site of the former MetroPCS store featured here last year. He began an on-again-off-again negotiation with Tetra over the property last year, and inked an agreement to purchase it last month.
The city recently gave permission to occupy the newly-built units on the north side of the building, and a chiropractor has leased both spaces. Now, Kenneth is searching for an anchor tenant to commit to the 3,500-square-foot corner space, which would then be built to suit their use. Existing architectural renderings from 2024 show an open floor plan surrounded by large windows, though that design could change based on the eventual tenant.
The sale doesn't close until October 1, but Kenneth says he will soon begin marketing the property for lease in hopes of securing a tenant by the time he takes over. If you'd like to learn more about leasing the space, you can e-mail him.
Meanwhile, his planned "Lola Lofts" apartment building at 2815 Lake is scheduled to begin construction this fall after being delayed a year due to soil contamination issues. The plan calls for a 13-unit, four-story building with first-floor retail on the site of a small commercial building that was burned in 2020. The project has received funding from the county's Transit-Oriented Development fund, Xcel Energy, and Lake Street Lift.
Lake Street Lift spotlight: Soul of the Southside 2026
Soul of the Southside Festival is back for its fifth year on Friday, June 19, from noon-8.
The festival is a free, annual Juneteenth celebration that creates joyful, visible Black space in South Minneapolis. It brings together artists, families, neighbors, and small businesses to celebrate Black creativity, culture, and community—outside, in the open, and rooted in place.
Series featuring Lake Street businesses presented by Lake Street Lift