A Minneapolis Parthenon it’s not

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Concrete columns sprout rusting steel reinforcing rods.

Weeds and trees are thriving in the urban arboretum.

And the neighbors are restless.

This is the stalled (failed?) The Lofts at Minneapolis condominium development in the city's North Loop neighborhood.

It's a relic from the Great Recession.

The property's owner, a New York City-based entity called Lehman Brothers Holding PLC, is part of the debris from the implosion of Wall Street investment banking house Lehman Brothers.

And this parcel is apparently part of the company's long running bankruptcy proceedings.

Hennepin County records put the market value of the land at about $1.8 million (it sold in 2002 for about $5.7 million!). The property taxes are about $43,000 a year, and someone is paying them.

A couple of New York City business publications note that Lehman Holding may be unloading some of its property around the country. But it's not clear what the timetable is for this parcel, and the folks at the law firm handling this portion of the bankruptcy didn't return calls or emails with an answer.

And so the neighbors and the city wait.

But to be fair to absentee out-of-town landowners, there are plenty of folks living right here in the Sin Cities who, for whatever reason, own parcels sprouting urban forests or buildings that are mouldering, contributing to blight.

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