Community Investment
Join the Creative Enterprise Zone’s movement to retain affordable commercial and industrial space for makers, creatives, and supportive businesses in Saint Paul.
Discover Taproot Investment Cooperative, a for-profit Real Estate Investment Cooperative (REIC) that allows individuals and tenants in Minnesota to invest in commercial real estate for the benefit of our communities.
Visit their website at taprootinvestment.com.
This values-first approach to shared community investment begins with the belief that broad-based local ownership of real estate helps to:
Establish and maintain a strong local economy
Prevent displacement of small business
Keep commercial/industrial space affordable over the long term
Disrupt typical wealth extraction practices
Build equity and wealth for members
The CEZ and Taproot Investment Cooperative will partner to make strategic investments in commercial properties that attract and support creative people and businesses and prioritize the long-term financial and environmental stewardship of commercial buildings through shared community ownership in the Zone.
Why a for-profit Investment Cooperative?
We believe regular people (not only deep-pocketed investors) should be able to invest money with the intent to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
Together we can support and protect small businesses, and nurture a more connected and thriving community by investing long-term, patient capital in viable multi-tenant buildings.
We hope to become a model for a values-first approach to shared community control of real estate, one that can prioritize small business stability, equity, and access for creative entrepreneurs.
Taproot members share a desire to address displacement, extraction, and risk by cooperative investment in economically sustainable development, ensuring local ownership of community assets, tenant representation in decision-making, and a modest return on members’ investment.