On Thursday, May 14, Mayor Frey announced that Agape Movement was his choice to be the city’s development partner for the Peoples’ Way. Our research has found no evidence that the group has the “relevant experience” or “financial qualifications” necessary for managing a multi-million-dollar project of this scope. Response to the choice has been criticized by several council and community members, and based on what we’ve found, we understand why.
Agape Movement was formed in 2021 to clear protesters from George Floyd Square. The group lost its nonprofit status in 2023, had it reinstated in 2024, and has yet to file any financial reports or register with the Attorney General’s office. Their website offers little clarity: the About Us section describes the organization this way:
The Agape Movement functions as an umbrella organization providing training opportunities for young adults. We address systematic inequities and offer ideas to reform the criminal justice system. We work at preventing further violence by creating job and training opportunities through personal interaction and boots-on-the-ground interaction.
While we support Agape’s stated aspirations of training youth and providing opportunities that direct them away from violence, there is no mention of property development experience anywhere in their public-facing materials. Susan Du of the Star Tribune has reported on the group’s history in detail, and our elected officials appear to have far more confidence in this organization than the public record warrants.
The concerns go deeper than an incomplete website. In 2024, federal prosecutors alleged that Agape’s ties to the Bloods street gang were more extensive than the organization had acknowledged. From an article in 2024:
Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Soria Mignanelli wrote in a filing that a “cooperating defendant” would testify that “members, associates, and leaders” of the Bloods helped form the Agape Movement Co., citing “bank and check records,” Mignanelli added that Agape paid “tens of thousands of dollars” to multiple members of the Minneapolis Bloods, money drawn from a City of Minneapolis contract for violence interruption and community outreach work.
In other words, city funds were flowing to known gang members.
That context matters when evaluating the mayor’s decision to select this group to manage a multi-million-dollar development project, especially given that a community survey conducted at significant public expense appeared to point toward a different vision for the site. What, exactly, is the shared vision the mayor is describing? And does it reflect what residents actually said they wanted?
We recently had our own experience with the cost of misplaced trust. I hired someone off Nextdoor to build an enclosure for our air conditioning unit, a simple job, no resume required, just someone who needed the work. They asked for half the contract up front for materials. We expected it done in a day. It took five, broken up by long gaps, uncomfortable negotiations, and a final cost double what we’d budgeted. By the end, I was ready to pay him to stop and find someone qualified, someone with a website, a portfolio, and actual experience. The final product was serviceable, but flawed.
The parallel to this situation is not subtle. There comes a point in every project where you have to decide whether the odds of a successful outcome justify the friction and cost ahead. The city and state have a documented pattern of struggling to hold contracted nonprofits accountable once a project is underway. That’s why we’d recommend that any contract with Agape, or any group selected through this process, include a clear termination clause.
Conclusion
We’ve contacted Mayor Frey’s office to learn more about Agape’s relevant experience. They offered to connect us with the Request for Proposal managers. If that meeting happens, we’ll be asking about the group’s background, their incomplete website, their lack of financial disclosure, and why, despite a community survey that appeared to reflect a different direction, this selection was made. We also want to know why a development process that has already made the neighborhood wait five years is now projected to take two more. What is the budget? Does the contract include a termination clause?
We’re fairly confident the city council will reject the mayor’s choice, and the project will continue to stall. In this case, unless the RFP managers have compelling non-public information about Agape Movement, we would support that rejection. The Peoples’ Way is not a backyard project, it’s a multi-million-dollar development that will shape the square and the surrounding neighborhood for decades. It deserves professional, qualified management.
The Business Committee takes up the issue on June 2. The full council decides on June 11. Road construction on the intersection, long overdue, begins June 8.
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Thank you for reading and caring about Minneapolis.
We spent Saturday afternoon taking in the art and atmosphere of Art-a-Whirl. Sunday, May 17, is the last day. We recommend stopping by Andrea Canter’s studio 218 in the Casket Arts Building. There was a speakeasy in the basement. She was one of several artists whose work we enjoyed. If you can, taking public transit to the event is recommended.
