Swedish Bank Building

The Swedish Bank Building was originally constructed in 1923 to be the most impressive building on the Payne Avenue commercial corridor on the East side of St. Paul.  The building served in that capacity, as a center of commerce and hope, for many years.  By the mid-1990s, however, after years of neglect, the building had fallen into deep disrepair. One of NDC’s neighborhood partners, the East Side Neighborhood Development Company (ESNDC), acquired the building in 1999, but the costs and challenges of redeveloping the building proved a deterrent to redevelopment. The building stood vacant and broken—a blighting influence on the entire neighborhood—until 2005. At that point, ESNDC invited NDC to join it and to create a plan for the building that would echo its historic role in the neighborhood as a trusted institution where neighborhood residents could go for advice, opportunities and services to build assets for their families.

Today, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and provides financial services, employment opportunities, business development opportunities, and educational and training opportunities.  Tenants include the East Side Financial Center --  an innovative collaboration between US Federal Credit Union, Thrivent Financial and Lutheran Social Services which provides financial services and counseling, and the Cultural Wellness Center, a non profit that fosters economic development, business growth and individual asset building by providing culturally-specific training and education services.

The renovation of the Swedish Bank Building combines elements of economic development, historic renovation, and revitalization to serve as a powerful symbol of economic re-birth and opportunity for the entire community.

For more information contact:

961-963 Payne Avenue, St. Paul