InnerCity Tennis nominated to operate the health and wellness center at the Upper Harbor development in north Minneapolis

The massive redevelopment of a riverfront parcel in north Minneapolis is almost ready for construction. But residents gathering to hear updates on the city’s city-owned Upper Harbor terminal project grew skeptical last week when they learned that a tennis nonprofit might operate a planned health and wellness facility there.

InnerCity Tennis, which operates tennis programs in 24 Minneapolis public schools and 23 city parks, proposed building a health center with eight tennis courts and four multi-sport courts (for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, badminton, indoor soccer and adaptive sports). An additional 20,000 to 40,000 square feet of space would be set aside for other wellness-related uses, such as a café, retail stores, a salon or a fitness center. The group also proposed – in order to gain enough space to make their vision a reality – changing the planned placement of the health center from the center of Upper Harbor to a site currently reserved for manufacturing and production on the edge of the river .

The proposal drew mostly negative reactions from residents who questioned whether North Siders could afford $30 in court fees or whether the entire concept was better suited for a suburban community. Some attendees said that when the vague idea of ​​a “health and wellness center” was brought to Upper Harbor years ago, they envisioned something related to holistic medicine. Others demanded more transparency into how InnerCity Tennis became United Properties’ preferred operator, saying they had never heard of the organization.

Who is InnerCity Tennis?

InnerCity Tennis is best known as the owner of the tennis center in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park. It’s been around since 1952 and operates as a nonprofit organization that charges those who can afford it market-based court and tuition fees so that lower-income children can play for free.

The organization has its offices in south Minneapolis, but many participants also live in north Minneapolis. The North Side base used to be the old V3 Center on Plymouth Avenue, but when the athletics center underwent its recent reconstruction, InnerCity Tennis had to find a new home. Over the past year, it aggressively expanded into public schools and parks in north Minneapolis under the leadership of new program manager and North Side resident Raheem Simmons.

“I think there’s a misconception that this is going to be 100% tennis related,” said Simmons, who has explained to concerned residents since last week’s meeting that if InnerCity Tennis were to become the “coordinating entity” at the health center, it would be the are tasked with inviting a variety of other wellness providers to share the facility. “When they start hearing more about that, you can just feel it on the phone that it makes sense.”

Tuesday morning in the Bryn Mawr Elementary gym, four InnerCity Tennis coaches tossed balls high over the net so the fourth-graders could practice spiking. They learned skills for 55 minutes. At the end of the hour, another class came in for a round, while the last one left. The coaches teach non-stop for two periods, take a half-hour lunch, teach three more periods and tutor every day after school for six weeks, free of charge to Bryn Mawr.

Gym teacher Anita Chavez had nothing but praise for InnerCity Tennis after working with them for seven years.

“They walk the walk. They are on time. They are reliable,” she said. “I don’t even know how many thousands of kids they’ve probably worked with… I’ve never had one complaint or concern about InnerCity Tennis the entire time I’ve been here.”

How were they chosen?

After the city of Minneapolis selected United Properties to redevelop Upper Harbor, United Properties tapped Devean George, a former NBA player turned real estate developer with community-building credentials in north Minneapolis, to develop some 500 planned homes help realize. George recommended InnerCity Tennis as the health center operator, saying the organization has “great people” with “their hearts in the right place.”

“They wanted another location in north Minneapolis because they have a lot of kids from north Minneapolis,” George said. “We’ve been looking to collaborate because we’re all doing the same thing. So why don’t we sit in the same room and say how we can support each other? Why don’t we make it a bigger project so we’ll be able to focus on more kids?” That’s how it really started.”

Tom Strohm of United Properties acknowledged that Upper Harbor’s plans left the health center somewhat “nebulous” by definition, so the development team could find an operator that had an existing relationship with north Minneapolis and a plan to develop other North Side invite companies into the center with them. They also had to be well organized, with enough fundraising power for a project that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

United Properties has spoken to several organizations, “some more serious than others,” Strohm said. “Specifically with InnerCity Tennis, Devean really wanted it to be complementary to what’s happening up north and not competitive.”

InnerCity Tennis is gathering answers to the questions asked at last week’s town hall in preparation for the next yet-to-be-determined public event, while feasibility studies and fundraising are conducted. If InnerCity Tennis takes over the health center, they would likely purchase the building, enter into a lease agreement with the city and sublease the space to other tenants. The city will retain public ownership of the land in Upper Harbor and put rental proceeds into a fund to benefit the North Side.

John Wheaton, executive director of InnerCity Tennis, said the nonprofit needs to do more to make sure the community likes what they do before committing to Upper Harbor.

“I know people have certain prejudices about tennis,” he said. “We’re different than a lot of country clubs and private club tennis. We want to be publicly accessible, we don’t want finances to be a barrier, and we want to use (tennis) as a tool to make connections and build trust in kids and create positive social experiences.”