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The
owners of the Cup Foods convenience store and other businesses
operating near 38th Street and Chicago Avenue argue that the
city's failure to address deterioration and crime in the
neighborhood has ruined their businesses and constitutes an
unlawful taking of their property without just compensation, the
Minnesota Star Tribune reported Thursday. They're seeking $30
million in damages.
The area, now known as George Floyd Square, has become a place
of pilgrimage for social justice supporters from across the
country, and the store has renamed itself Unity Foods. But
business owners say they haven't benefitted, while activists and
officials remain divided over how to transform the intersection
while keeping it as a permanent memorial.
Floyd died after a white officer pinned his neck to the pavement
outside Cup Foods for 9 1/2 minutes despite the Black man’s
pleas of “I can’t breathe.” The ensuing protests, which turned
violent at times, tested the leadership of Gov. Tim Walz at one
of the state’s most consequential moments, and sparking a
nationwide reckoning over racism and police misconduct. The
officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder.
The legal action, filed last week in Hennepin County District
Court, argues that the businesses have lost revenue, real estate
value, reputation, and tenant and rental income. It argues that
the city's decisions led to higher crime and created a “no go
zone” for police in the area. It replaces an earlier lawsuit by
the businesses that was dismissed two months ago.
Michael Healey, the lawyer representing the businesses, told the
Star Tribune there are two possible outcomes. The businesses
"could conceivably keep the property if a settlement is reached
with the city on the diminished value,” he said. The other
possibility is that the city could begin the process of taking
the properties and compensating the owners.
A city spokesperson said in a statement that while it can’t
comment on pending litigation, the city “understands the
challenges that residents and businesses have confronted in the
wake of George Floyd’s murder.“
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