“All the people who were visiting St. Paul events last summer didn’t go on our side of Grand,” she said.
Roseline’s Place opened between Macalester and Cambridge streets in January 2024. Friedrich said the construction was inevitable, but her customers struggled to get to the business when street closures changed weekly. She said she will miss “being part of the tapestry” of the neighborhood but is glad hers was the only business to close during construction.
The $6.7 million Grand Avenue project is the first to be partly paid for by the 1% sales tax voters approved in 2023 to fix aging streets. The project added new underground utilities and foundations for the first time in 70 years. The city will reconstruct other parts of Grand Avenue over the next few years, Hiebert said.
Some finishing touches and clean-up are expected into the fall and spring.
Damla Erten , vice president of development at Sencha Tea Bar, said the construction in front of the shop was manageable. The summer season is slower without the nearby colleges in session, she said, so the business took advantage of the road construction to retile their kitchen. Sencha is also adding more lighting outside.
“When you know construction is coming, you downsize, you change something, to adapt,” she said, noting that Sencha Tea Bar has several locations, which allowed the business to better absorb the 35% loss of business during the Grand Avenue construction.
