A split Minneapolis City Council deadlocked Tuesday on whether to move ahead with the latest proposed location for a new Third Precinct police station.

The council voted 6-6 on whether to green light the purchase of a building and parking lot at 2633 Minneheha Av. The tie vote meant the proposal failed to move ahead with the council’s endorsement. However, the idea is slated to come up again in a matter of days — and it’s possible the result could be different.

The location is the most recent to be pushed by Mayor Jacob Frey, who pitched it as the lowest cost of any sites seriously considered and because it could be occupied by police in as soon as a year — the fastest turnaround of any sites.

On Tuesday, a majority of council members echoed that sentiment — including Council Member Jamal Osman, who, in the course of the afternoon meeting, appeared to reverse his stance and ultimately cast a key dissenting vote.

Additionally, a pitch for a different site supported by a number of council members will now appear before the full council later in the week — adding to the incessant uncertainty surrounding the issue.

City leaders have been wrestling with how to re-establish a working police station within the southeast Minneapolis boundaries of the Third Precinct since it was vacated to a crowd of thousands of protesters in the days after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Some members of the crowd ransacked the building and set it ablaze, and today it remains vacant, cordoned off by razor wire.

Meanwhile, officers who serve the area operate out of makeshift quarters in a city-owned building downtown.

In fits and starts for the past three years, city leaders have argued, convulsed and reversed course as they’ve publicly considered a handful of possible locations out of more than 29 locations vetted by staff at various times.

2633 Minnehaha

The cost to buy and renovate the building at 2633 Minnehaha to become a police precinct is $14 million, and it would take a year to a year and a half to complete.

On Tuesday, Frey’s newly appointed commissioner of public safety, Todd Barnette, told council members one of the advantages of the 3.3-acre site, which includes a 78,500-square-foot building, is that there’s space to expand it from a basic police station to a “community safety center.”

Exactly whet services would be offered in a community safety center — beyond a traditional police station — has remained unclear for months as the council has discussed the idea. Barnette said it couldn’t be answered until after a fresh community engagement process that would determine what services are wanted, be they a food shelf or a driver’s license center. Regardless of the specifics, city officials estimate it would cost an additional $7 to $8.5 million to build a community safety center on that site, or any other sites being considered.

The lack of specifics has been a sticking point for those on the council who have resisted moving forward with any sites offered by Frey’s administration. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, for example, accused Frey of a “bait and switch” because his formal proposal described a “community safety center” but didn’t include any specifics, and noted the extra cost almost as an afterthought.

The site actually emerged in the summer of 2020, when city officials scouted more than two dozen locations for at least a temporary solution. They landed on 2633 Minnehaha Av. and were prepared to sign a lease with the owners.

However, when word of the plan got out, graffiti calling for the deaths of officers was scrawled on the building and, according to police, a threat was made to burn it down.

How they voted

Here’s how they voted Tuesday:

Voting in favor were Council President Andrea Jenkins, Council Vice President Linea Palmisano, and Council Members Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw, Lisa Goodman and Emily Koski.

Voting against were Council Members Elliott Payne, Robin Wonsley, Jeremiah Ellison, Jason Chavez, Aisha Chughtai, and Osman.

Osman said he was disappointed to learn that a new police station at 2633 Minnehaha might not open with all the unspecified trappings of a community safety center — his only criticism of the site after initially saying the site was “a smart move.” He left council chambers before the meeting adjourned and could be reached for comment.

But Osman might not ultimately be the deciding vote.

Council Member Andrew Johnson was absent Tuesday, but before the vote, he indicated he supported 2633 Minnehaha and was prepared to vote in favor of it Thursday.

Nothing that happened Tuesday was definitive. Tuesday’s meeting was the council gathering as a committee; the full council could approve — or kill — the location at its formal meeting Thursday.

In September, a similar situation happened: The committee of the whole voted to move ahead with a location on the edge of downtown, but the council reversed itself days later, and eventually scuttled that location.

On Tuesday, Council Member Jason Chavez pushed for an alternative location that Frey’s administration had considered at one point: 3716 Cheatham Av.

According to city documents, buying the property and designing and building a new facility on the 2-acre site is estimated to cost $36.5 to $41.5 million and take at least five years. Building out a community safety center would cost an additional $7 to $8 million there as well, according to city estimates.