MINNEAPOLIS — Looking for a new owner to take control of a key piece of George Floyd Square, Minneapolis officials have picked Minnesota Agape Movement, which has proposed building a six-story commercial development in place of the People’s Way.

Their decision comes six years after Floyd’s murder sparked a civil unrest that transformed the intersection of 38th and Chicago, where a defunct Speedway was destroyed in 2020 and used as a gathering ground for activists ever since.

The city purchased the People’s Way property in 2023 after a man was found dead inside, his body set on fire. In 2024, the city began the process of finding a redeveloper.

“George Floyd Square carries significant meaning for Minneapolis and for people around the world,” Mayor Jacob Frey said Thursday in a news release. “We’re looking forward to partnering with Agape and the community as we take this next step together to continue building toward the long-term vision for the Square.”

Officially transferring ownership of the property to Agape would require City Council approval. If successful, the transfer would fundamentally change the balance of power in the heavily disputed intersection by giving control of the activists’ headquarters to a group aligned with the mayor.

“We’ve done a lot of work in the last several years to ensure the community’s voice is centered at George Floyd Square,” Alexander Kado, senior project manager for the city, said in a news release. “Throughout the [request for qualifications] process, Agape demonstrated a deep commitment to collaborating with both the City and the community to realize a site that truly honors the Square.”

City Council Members Jason Chavez and Soren Stevenson, who represent neighborhoods surrounding George Floyd Square, said they did not know until just hours before the recommendation’s announcement via a news release that it would come on Thursday.

Chavez criticized the choice of Agape, pointing to a city-commissioned survey from April 2025 that found most public support for a different group’s proposal.

“Mayor Frey sat on these results for over a year and has now decided to disregard data and the community’s preference by choosing Agape,” he said.

Agape, a group that includes ex-gang members from the neighborhood around 38th and Chicago, beat out two other applicants for the mayor’s recommendation.

It offered the most ambitious vision, proposing a six-story building replete with revenue-generating elements including multiple restaurants, a museum, an affordable business incubator, a music studio and a rooftop garden. Victoria Yepez, an emerging developer working with Agape, estimated the project would cost $20 million to $35 million.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Yepez said she hadn’t heard any updates about the People’s Way project in months and would have to “re-engage” with Agape leaders about their plans.

Agape played a key role helping the city regain control of 38th and Chicago. After Floyd’s murder by a police officer in 2020, activists demanding a list of police reforms declared the intersection an “autonomous zone” of protest and used a system of concrete barricades and cattle gates to restrict traffic flow. Crime festered, businesses complained and in 2021, Frey gave Agape a noncompetitive $359,000 contract to remove the barricades against the activists’ wishes.

Agape became a tax-exempt nonprofit in 2021, lost its status in 2023, then had it reinstated in 2024. Because the group has not filed a 990 tax form required of tax-exempt organizations, its financial status is unclear.

“We see this opportunity as both an honor and a responsibility to ensure the future of the space reflects healing, remembrance, justice, culture, economic opportunity and continued investment in the people who carried this space through its most painful and powerful moments,” Agape CEO Reginald Ferguson said.

“This moment is bigger than development — it’s about preserving the legacy, humanity, and community voice that made George Floyd Square a sacred space recognized around the world.”

Agape previously said it would finance its project through grants and public and private donations.

After purchasing the People’s Way at 3744 Chicago Av. for $200,000, the city put out a request for qualifications for a community owner to redevelop the site for community purposes. Four groups were invited to present their proposals to the public in February 2025.

The city initially planned to pick a preferred proposal before the end of last year, but complications muddled the process.

The Urban League, a one-time leading candidate, withdrew its application for a George Floyd Museum, citing concerns around financial viability.

Another applicant, P3 Foundation, also known as David’s Place, proposed a recreation center with art studios and a business incubator. However, David’s Place only became a nonprofit after the city issued its call for proposals and, like Agape, has never filed any tax-exempt informational returns.

Agape and the activist nonprofit Rise and Remember were the primary competitors.

Rise and Remember is led by Floyd family members Angela Harrelson and Paris Stevens, as well as activist Jeanelle Austin. Formerly known as George Floyd Global Memorial, the group is connected to the protesters who have maintained the street memorial in front of the Unity Foods grocery since Floyd’s death, and who at times have vociferously criticized the mayor.

Rise and Remember reported nearly $1 million in revenue in 2023 and $272,000 in 2024. Its proposal to transform the People’s Way into a memorial garden and greenhouse with an estimated cost of $2.5 million would have been the most financially modest.

According to the city’s People’s Way community engagement survey results, the Rise and Remember proposal received the most support from more than 700 respondents.

“Rise and Remember garnered the most strongly positive reactions overall, especially in how they address memorials and plan to work with the community,” the survey concluded. “While some stakeholders still had reservations, the prevailing sentiment leaned more favorably toward this proposal than the others.”

The survey also found that while Agape had support from a dedicated group of stakeholders, its proposal faced stronger opposition than others, appearing more polarized.

Phi Khalar, a longtime activist at George Floyd Square who backed Rise and Remember’s idea for a memorial garden, questioned Agape’s ability to pull off an expensive, multi-story building.

“I don’t know if they’re going to be able to secure that money and how long it’s going to take, which means the site is going to remain as it is for the next couple years, or they raze it and just demolish everything there,” Khalar said. “It’s just a big, dumb move.”

When Agape presented to the public last year, spokesperson Bridgette Stewart described its renderings as a “placeholder” for the city’s application process that could change following further public engagement. But so far, neither Agape nor the city has published an alternative idea for what Agape plans to do.

If Agape obtains City Council approval, it would have the exclusive development rights for two years with the possibility of a one-year extension. The council is expected to consider the development rights recommendation at business committee on June 2, followed by its full meeting June 11.

The city plans to begin street and infrastructure improvements at George Floyd Square on June 8 and complete the work in 2027.

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