The Verna
Date
2021Category
Commercial Real Estate,The Vision
Part of the Seward Commons development, The Verna naturally evolved from a nondescript industrial building to a vital business incubator and accelerator. It offers a supportive environment at affordable rents where startups can launch with small unit sizes, high ceilings and heavy power to offer industrial space features at attainable rents.
As tenants expand and outgrow the Verna, its flexible and modestly priced units can host the next new idea.
Community Mission & Impact
Multiple businesses and organizations have used the building as their first permanent home, building out space, stabilizing finances, and developing the capacity to grow into larger spaces or become building owners themselves.
This model allows Redesign to keep bringing new entrepreneurs and organizations into the pipeline – especially those who would otherwise be shut out of commercial real estate entirely. By paying down building debt and planning for long-term maintenance, Redesign ensures the incubator itself remains viable, so it can continue serving new tenants over time.
The Verna demonstrates that incubation is infrastructure. When space is affordable, stable, and stewarded with intention, it becomes a powerful tool for building long-term community wealth, one successful transition at a time.
Redesign reached out to Dick Westby, a lifelong Seward resident and neighborhood historian and author of A People’s History of the Seward Neighborhood, with a specific question: If we were to name a building after a woman from Seward’s history, who should it be? The goal was to counter a long tradition of buildings named after developers, landowners, or abstract concepts, and instead honor the often-overlooked women who shaped the neighborhood through care, leadership, and persistence.
The Verna is named for Verna Strick, a longtime Seward resident who loved people and her neighborhood. Verna dedicated her life to helping others through activism and community service. She was a founding member of the Seward Neighborhood Group, President of both Seward Elementary and South High parent teacher associations, and the driving force behind developing what is now Seward Montessori School and Matthews Park. Verna was a board member of Pillsbury Waite Neighborhood Services and charter member of the Greater South Committee. She also served on the Minneapolis City Council’s Community Improvement Citizens Advisory Committee. Verna passed away in 2004. Seward is a better place because of her activism. She will be remembered for years to come.
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