Starling Project

Many storefronts on University Avenue are vacant, due in part to Central Corridor Light Rail construction. Increased vacancy rates create a downward spiral as the remaining businesses draw fewer customers. This has a negative impact on the surrounding community. We hope to help turn this cycle around, matching building owners of vacant spaces with people who are looking for “nesting” spaces – short-term opportunities to try out new businesses, galleries, or other types of workspace and event space. We are enthusiastically interested in the success of Central Corridor LRT and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Starling uses two strategies to promote vitality along St. Paul's University Avenue. One strategy focuses on helping to facilitate individual matches between property owners and prospective tenants for short-term leases. The other method grows out of collaborations with community-based organizations, in order to identify ways that vacant space can support goals that they and their residents have for their stretch of the Central Corridor.