MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Minnesota Redevelopment Conference Opens With Focus on Vacant Properties, Cleanup and Community Ownership
The October 22–23 gathering in Rochester connects environmental work with the practical challenges of returning underused land to productive use.
ROCHESTER, MN (October 22, 2026). Minnesota redevelopment professionals are scheduled to gather Thursday and Friday at Mayo Civic Center for a state conference examining how communities can move vacant and environmentally challenged properties toward new uses.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is hosting Brownfields and Beyond, a two-day conference bringing together government, business, nonprofit, environmental and development professionals.
The program is designed for participants from metropolitan communities, regional centers and rural areas, including people new to redevelopment work.
Thursday’s agenda includes sessions addressing limited local staffing and funding, environmental cleanup, small development sites and community ownership.
A session on redevelopment in communities with limited resources is scheduled to examine early project planning, interruptions in development and the importance of a local person or organization sustaining the work.
Another session addresses how environmental investigation and engineering design can be coordinated, including decisions about contaminated material encountered during construction.
The program also includes a presentation on the land trust model featuring Rondo Community Land Trust representatives Justin Gaarder and Mikeya Griffin, alongside Adam Zobel of Stantec.
That discussion is intended to connect real estate development with community ownership, economic opportunity and cultural preservation. A separate session includes Hennepin County’s Zack Avre and focuses on assistance and financing for smaller infill projects.
The scheduled opening keynote features Deb Brown, co-founder of SaveYour.Town, discussing practical improvements communities can undertake with existing resources.
The conference takes place at 30 Civic Center Drive SE. DEED lists a $225 conference fee and provides program information through its conference website.
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