St. Paul Brewing sues city over Hamm’s site redevelopment that would remove parking

Businesses sue St. Paul over Hamm’s parking lot

The owner of St. Paul Brewing is escalating a fight over the planned redevelopment of a city-owned parking lot that his business uses for free.

Rob Clapp is suing the City of St. Paul and the St. Paul Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) in an attempt to block a plan to rezone the old Hamm’s Brewery site and turn a roughly 150-space parking lot into 120 units of affordable housing.

The HRA took over the historic brewery more than 20 years ago with the goal of preserving and one day redeveloping the site. Much of the complex has sat vacant since then, including a parking lot on the east end of the site. When the city sold select parcels within the complex to private businesses, it agreed to maintain the lot for general use.

RELATED: JB Vang tentatively picked to redevelop old Hamm’s Brewery site in St. Paul

In 2022, St. Paul selected developer JB Vang to build a mix of housing, dining and retail at the historic brewery complex. When complete, the development is expected to comprise 56,000 square feet of commercial space and 209 total units of housing.

RELATED: City Council approves plan of re-purposing former Hamm’s Brewery site in St. Paul

In his lawsuit, Clapp claims that if the city moves forward with the development, St. Paul Brewing and another of his ventures, 11 Wells Distillery, “will be destroyed” despite the developer updating its site plan to include 73 spots of shared parking.

Clapp says he has invested $1.7 million into 11 Wells, including a $1.2 million renovation to reopen the space with a cocktail room and patio.

Part of the plan also includes rezoning land owned by the HRA from “general industrial” to a “traditional neighborhood” designation while leaving spots of industrial zoning on three parcels owned by Clapp.

Clapp argues the rezoning proposal constitutes “unlawful spot zoning” and could theoretically allow someone to open a crematorium in the middle of a development “targeted specifically to families with young children.”

RELATED: St. Paul Brewing owner: ‘We will not survive’ if Hamm’s site redevelopment eliminates parking

Clapp told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS in February he would prefer to see JB Vang “take the safe approach” and start with redeveloping the Hamm’s building before breaking ground on the new apartment building.

The St. Paul City Council has so far voted unanimously to move forward with the rezoning plan and could give final approval at its meeting next week.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to the city for comment and is waiting to hear back.
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