Reimagining Shingle Creek Center

Reimagining Shingle Creek Center: Culture, Community, & Commerce

When African Career Education & Resource, inc. (ACER) ventured into property ownership, it was with one vision in mind - to create a space where the community can innovate, and thrive in their cultural identities.

ACER believes that every community deserves a space that they can call their own, where they can celebrate their cultural diversity, their spirit, and their dreams. We reimagine Shingle Creek Center in Brooklyn Center to be that space; a hub of vibrant life, culture, and opportunity where once stood an underused, forgotten property.

Shingle Creek Center hopes to be more than just a group of buildings - it will be a “community well” where families gather and small businesses thrive, where innovation and creation take flight. Located at 6000-6098 Shingle Creek Parkway, at the heart of the opportunity site in Brooklyn Center, this reimagined space would honor the community’s history while building a more inclusive and equitable future.

A place where culture, commerce, and community converge, the Shingle Creek Center hopes to serve as a living monument of what can be achieved when we invest in one another. Guided by ACER’s principles of racial and economic equity, and community voices, the center will:

• Create more affordable spaces for small businesses  

• Create economic opportunities through business incubation, career training, etc.

• Be a cultural gathering space with art, music, food, and community connection

• Provide family-friendly, sustainable housing and accessible green space

The next step towards our goals, Phase 2, is revitalizing the existing mall space and introducing a beautiful public plaza where the community can gather. This plaza aims to be the heart of the new Shingle Creek Center. It will be a space for outdoor markets, cultural events like festivals and performances, and local entrepreneurship, where the community can gather to celebrate the diversity that defines the city. Key features of Phase 2 would include:

• Landscaping and public art, reflecting the cultures and stories of the community

• Spaces for small and micro businesses, particularly BIPOC, immigrant, and women entrepreneurs

• Safe and accessible walkways and bike paths that connect the community to opportunities of movement and play like the Shingle Creek Trail

• Programs and events that celebrate the community with art, music, dance, food, and storytelling

In Phase 3, we envision a four-to-five floors of mixed-use building, combining retail, office, and housing. Imagine a space where:

• Local chefs share their family recipes and creations at a welcoming food hall and cafe

• Co-working and innovation spaces for entrepreneurs and those who dare to dream

• New family-friendly homes, designed centering affordability, sustainability and dignity

Phase 3 would kick into action once the community plaza is a thriving hub of community connections, and will grow with the care, collaboration, and intention that has guided every step of the whole project.

For decades, too many of our community, our Black, Brown and Immigrant neighbors, have faced barriers to home ownership, business ownership, and employment stability. The focus of the Shingle Creek Center redevelopment is to systematically break down those barriers and build pathways to ownership, opportunity, and generational wealth. By supporting this project, the community can help:

• Create more living-wage jobs and employment training opportunities for local residents

• Nurture small and micro businesses with affordable retail space and shared equity models

• Preserve community roots by keeping spaces accessible and locally-owned, preventing gentrification and pricing-out of local community

• Build intergenerational wealth that will continue to fuel the local economy and the future

The redevelopment of Shingle Creek Center is more than just a project - it is a movement. It is our community’s way of decisively stating that we belong here and we deserve to thrive here. 

With your support - through donations, partnerships, and spreading the word - you can be a part of turning this vision into reality. 

Every dollar given in support, every brick put into place, every business given a hand will be a testament of what we can build with our collective power.

Let us build a place where generations to come see themselves and their culture represented, where our elders know their stories and wisdom will be celebrated, and where the community can gather with pride and a deep sense of belonging.