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About Greening & Public Realm Awards

The 2019 Mpls Greening & Public Realm Awards vote is now open! Vote for your favorite green spaces and help us honor and celebrate downtown's top locations. Click Here to learn more.

The Annual Greening and Public Realm Awards are an initiative of the Mpls Downtown Improvement District to celebrate the outstanding examples of private greening and placemaking happening in downtown Minneapolis, and are intended to inspire all to work towards making downtown a greener and more vibrant place. Unlike the world-class park system that weaves thru our city’s neighborhoods, downtown is lacking in parks and green space to support our growing residential, business and visitor populations. We believe if each building in downtown was to place a single entryway planter on their property, the impact on the public realm would be tremendous and the work done by Mpls DID, Minneapolis Park Board and others would be strengthened.

By participating in the Annual Greening and Public Realm Awards you can help recognize the properties, businesses, and community groups who have created and maintained greening projects that contribute to a more beautiful downtown. 

Congratulations to 2018's winners

Please join us in congratulating our 2018 Greening & Public Realm Award winners. Thank you to all who participated in this year's online public vote, and thank you to everyone who helps beautify downtown through adding greening and public realm enhancements.

View the press release.

 Small Activated Space

  • Colonial Warehouse Alleyway* - 41.56%
  • Kieran’s Irish Pub – 35.44%
  • 100 Washington – 23.00%

Small Green Space

  • Westminster Presbyterian Church – 42.01%
  • Hennepin Healthcare Pocket Park* - 37.07%
  • Target Plaza, South Entry – 20.92%

Large Activated Space

  • The Commons – 54.19%
  • Nicollet* - 30.23%
  • Hennepin County Government Center – 15.58%

Large Green Space

  • Loring Greenway – 56.25%
  • Cancer Survivors Park – 29.38%
  • Triangle Park – 14.37%

Façade Greening

  • The Local – 45.31%
  • Lenox Brownstones* - 32.61%
  • Mills Fleet Farm Parking Garage – 22.09%

Public Art

  • Nicollet Lanterns by Blessing Hancock* - 36.64%
  • Carry On Homes by Peng Wu, Zoe Cinel, Shunjie Yong, Preston Drum and Aki Shibata* - 34.96%
  • Prairie Tree by Ned Kahn* - 16.03%
  • 5th & Hennepin Mini Mural* - 12.37%

Outdoor Café

  • Brit’s Pub – 46.82%
  • Haskell’s Wine Bar* - 22.24%
  • Eastside* - 18.60%
  • The News Room* - 12.34%

  

Streetscape Greening

  • Fulton Taproom – 51.43%
  • Millwright – 26.71%
  • Kraus Anderson Development* - 21.86%

Streetscape Green Infrastructure

  • Nicollet* – 57.52%
  • Minneapolis Convention Center – 27.15%
  • Washington Avenue S* - 15.33%

Entryway Greening

  • Aloft Minneapolis - 54.97%
  • HQ Apartments* - 28.47%
  • Mpls DID Pop-up Satellite Office* - 16.57%

Public Realm Improvement

  • Westminster Presbyterian Church – 22.04%
  • Hennepin Healthcare Pocket Park – 19.51%
  • Nicollet Redesign – 14.72%
  • Kraus Anderson Development – 10.04%
  • Colonial Warehouse Alleyway – 9.76%
  • Carry On Homes by Peng Wu, Zoe Cinel, Shunjie Yong, Preston Drum and Aki Shibata* - 7.77%
  • Haskell’s Wine Bar – 6.32%
  • Washington Ave S Redesign – 5.33%
  • Nicollet Lanterns by Blessing Hancock – 2.08%
  • The News Room – 1.63%

Best Neighborhood

  • Loring Park – 35.63%
  • Downtown East – 35.53%
  • North Loop – 12.91%
  • Elliot Park – 11.31%
  • Downtown West – 4.62%

*-New Nominee in this category

 

2017 Award Winners

Minneapolis DID 2017 Greening and Public Realm Awards from VON91 on Vimeo.