City opens window to redevelop Solem

Local and regional developers have until the end of November to submit proposals that will determine the future of the condemned Hotel Solem building.

Located in downtown Cloquet, the 103-year-old building was condemned earlier this year and taken over by the city.

The city issued its request for proposals earlier this week, and already it's received attention, with community development director Holly Hansen lining up the first tour of what she hopes will be many more.

"(Monday), I outreached to 30 companies - local, regional, statewide and throughout the Midwest," she said. "If we want to wait and see, that's not my style. I try to be proactive."

Once home to apartments and the original Mexico Lindo restaurant, the upper floors of the building haven't been in use since a fire in 2001. The roof and water displacement system are failing, causing interior decay and damage to the exterior bricks. Still, overall, the property remains in "fair" condition, according to a structural report conducted by the Duluth engineering firm TKDA.

The request for proposals features four possibilities for the building: rehabilitation as a three-, two- or one-story building, or demolition with redevelopment of the site from the ground up. The request calls keeping the majority of the building intact "the highest and best use" of the property.

"Our preference is to see the building utilized to its fullest potential," Hansen said. "Demolition is something that would be extremely disruptive and is absolutely our last preference to see happen."

Proposals figure to be mixed-use, featuring street-level retail or commercial space with the upper levels reserved for housing. Hansen noted a need to get back to filling upper stories of downtown properties.

"We have many buildings downtown with second stories not being used," Hansen said. "Dave's (Cloquet Mattress and Furniture) is another great example of an amazing space on the second floor going unused."

Hotel Solem owns a rich and important history in Cloquet. Following the fire of 1918, the hotel rose luxuriously and as a sign of new beginnings in June 1919. It housed hotel guests and later apartment tenants throughout most of its life until the interior fire in 2001 displaced what were then low-income residents.

The city purchased the building in 2002 from Wells Fargo Bank for $67,500 and also settled a lien.

In September 2003, the city sold the building in "as is" condition to owners who opened the Mexico Lindo restaurant, to thriving success. But those owners let maintenance go throughout the rest of the building, and the city condemned the property shortly after the restaurant had changed hands and moved down the street as Pedro's Grill and Cantina.

In September, the city reclaimed the building for $8,000 paid to the former Mexico Lindo owners.

In its request for proposals, the city outlined a host of ways it could partner with a developer, including incremental taxation, loans or gap financing, state and federal grants, and historic tax credits.

"We're a willing partner to help folks, and we're covering bases we can cover as a city," Hansen said. "In the end, we need one successful proposal."