City Sued Over Hamm's Complex Redevelopment - Businesses Seek Solutions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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SAINT PAUL, MN – August 13, 2025 – After repeated attempts to engage in collaborative problem-solving, local business owner Rob Clapp announced today that he will be filing a lawsuit against the City of Saint Paul. The legal action seeks to hold the city accountable for its original intent in acquiring the historic Hamm’s complex site—to preserve and activate the buildings—and for promises made to developers who invested early in the then-dilapidated property. While the privately owned properties have been renovated and activated, the city-owned portion of the Hamm’s complex remains abandoned, is currently condemned and is an on-going public nuisance.

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The decision comes after a city-originated proposal to rezone the Hamm's complex site had its "first reading" on the city council agenda last Wednesday, August 6, 2025, moving it closer to becoming an ordinance. This initiative, which significantly impacts the three properties owned by the Clapp family, advanced without any outreach to them or his team, despite persistent requests for collaboration and strong messages from the planning commission, stakeholders, and the community.

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"We do not believe the city is acting in good faith," said Clapp. "Therefore, this week we are filing a lawsuit to hold the city accountable for its original intent in acquiring the Hamm’s site—to preserve and activate the buildings—and for the promises made to attract early adaptive reuse developers to the then-dilapidated site."

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Key issues at the heart of the dispute include:

• Property Access and Infrastructure: Concerns include the immediate repair of a condemned retaining wall, adjustments to property lines to allow for emergency escape stairways and maintenance, removal of the south patio from a tentative developer agreement, and the establishment of permanent ingress and egress for privately owned buildings.
• Parking Lot Agreement: The city's recent actions have rescinded explicit commitments that the improved, shared, on-site parking lot would continue to serve existing businesses. Clapp asserts that the East-side HRA parking lot was promised as a business amenity for 15 years, and this pledge enabled existing businesses to secure financing and certificates of occupancy.
• Historic Designation: The city is pursuing a local route to historic designation which 100% of eligible property owners have formally objected to, creating potential legal challenges. Clapp advocates for a typical federal path that could be fast-tracked if the city addresses concerns about parking, ingress, egress, boundaries, and right-of-way.
• Lack of Collaboration: Clapp is requesting the appointment of a third-party project overseer for the Hamm’s development site, citing the city's "hands-off, and occasionally hostile, stance towards the very businesses it had attracted to the complex."

"The City has had more than two years to rectify this situation, and we appear to be at an impasse," Clapp stated. "At this point, I have no choice but to assert my rights as a business and property owner and challenge the project that impacts the legal rights of my businesses—zoning, lot-splits, easements, historic designation, breach of the parking-lot agreement, and regulatory or inverse condemnation—to the fullest protection of my rights and interests."

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While expressing disappointment, Clapp remains optimistic about Saint Paul and the Hamm’s brewery complex, hoping that a resolution will allow the continued development of a "treasure that serves our local community and also draws people from across the state and country."  

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The Hamm’s complex is a historic site in Saint Paul, undergoing redevelopment. Early adaptive reuse developers were attracted to the site with promises of preservation and activation, aiming to create a vibrant community asset.  www.hammstown.com for more information

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