Artspace

Grain Belt Studios

77 and 79 Thirteenth Avenue NE
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413

Acquired 2005

It's been a long time a-brewin'

Designed by the Minneapolis firm of Boehme and Cordella, the Grain Belt Bottling House (1906) and adjacent Warehouse (1910) served for seven decades as vital components of the historic Grain Belt Brewery complex. While the majestic brewhouse stood vacant for nearly three decades after the brewery closed in 1975, these matching two-story buildings filled up with artists and creative businesses in the early 1990s.

By the late nineties, however, the neighborhood around the brewery had begun to gentrify. Early in 2000, when the City of Minneapolis, the buildings' owner, explored plans to sell them, the artists asked Artspace to buy and operate the buildings as affordable non-residential facilities.

Acquisition of the Bottling House and Warehouse has preserved 67,000 square feet of leasable space for artists and arts-friendly businesses that might otherwise have been converted into offices or condominiums. Both buildings are in excellent shape, and the Bottling House boasts a large atrium suitable for receptions and other gatherings.