By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors
A commercial property inspection helps a Columbia Heights buyer, owner or lender learn what lies behind a Central Avenue storefront, an industrial building or a converted school. The city's historic context study describes strip commercial along Central Avenue and an industrial pocket south of Huset Park.
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Commercial buildings in and around Columbia Heights
Central Avenue: strip commercial and mid-century buildings
The city's 2022 historic context study says small commercial nodes developed in Columbia Heights even though the city had no real "downtown." It describes retail nodes along 40th Avenue and parts of University Avenue and intense strip commercial along Central Avenue. The study places the early commercial architecture between 37th and 41st Avenues, with strip developments built north of 41st Avenue in the mid-to-late 20th century as land became available.
University Avenue supports a blend of residential, commercial and light industrial uses, and western stretches of 40th Avenue still display early commercial node development. Along Central Avenue, the study lists the Columbia Heights State Bank at 3980 Central Avenue NE, built in 1953 and, the study says, now serving as the Anoka County Government Center.
Medtronic listed its Sullivan Lake Campus on the market in late 2022. The city says it then submitted a plan amendment to guide the 11.74-acre site from Commercial to Transit Oriented Development land use, and its timeline lists the amendment as approved by the Metropolitan Council in August 2024.
A vacant 13-acre parcel at 4300 Central Avenue NE has a proposed change in planned land use to Transit Oriented Development, and the city says concepts for a new mixed-use development are being explored. Former corporate campuses and large commercial parcels are the kind of property where a buyer or lender wants a clear read on roofs, mechanical plant and electrical service before committing to a new use.
The industrial pocket near Huset Park
According to the context study, Columbia Heights' industrial uses are still located north of 37th Avenue and west of Central Avenue, south of Huset Park. It describes one plant on 39th Avenue as a cinder block building like many of the other industrial buildings in the area, and says the Columbia Heights side of 37th Avenue has been redeveloped with senior housing and a produce storage warehouse.
The city's history page adds that Elmer Huset, a Lutheran minister and for a time city manager, went to the state legislature and secured 60 acres for the city in 1939. About 30 acres of that land became park and the other acres became industrial land.
The Metropolitan Council's land-use inventory counts 160 industrial acres in Columbia Heights in 2020, against 111 commercial acres, and its profile lists employment of 4,538 in 2024. Cinder block and masonry industrial buildings usually have long, low roofs. Roof age, slab condition and whether the electrical service still fits the current tenant's equipment are the usual questions.
A 1926 theater and schools that became churches
The Heights Theater, at 3951 Central Avenue NE, was built in 1926 by Gluek Brewery heir Arthur Gluek as a real estate venture. Its own history says the original charm was later covered over with drywall and turquoise paint, and that the 1926 Williams Brothers steam boiler was replaced with two new high-efficiency hot water boilers, with new electrical service and plumbing upgrades completed over the years.
The city's history records other buildings that changed use. Oakwood School, built in 1915, closed as a public school in 1974 and became Oak Hill Baptist Church. Silver Lake School, built in 1922, closed in 1981 and became the new home of First Lutheran Church. A building that moves from one occupancy to another carries its existing roof, boilers and wiring into the new use.
Commercial buildings we inspect
Quick answers
Where is most commercial development in Columbia Heights?
The city's 2022 historic context study says most of the city's commercial development is along Central Avenue, describing intense strip commercial there and retail nodes along 40th Avenue and parts of University Avenue. Buildings range from early commercial architecture between 37th and 41st Avenues to later strip developments farther north, so age varies widely from one address to the next.
What is happening with the former Medtronic campus and the 4300 Central Avenue site?
Medtronic listed its Sullivan Lake Campus on the market in late 2022, and the city says the 11.74-acre site was guided from Commercial to Transit Oriented Development land use. The 13-acre parcel at 4300 Central Avenue NE is described as vacant, with a proposed change to Transit Oriented Development. Both sites appear on the city's current development projects page.
What can a building's mechanical history tell a buyer?
The Heights Theater's history shows that mechanical systems get replaced over time: its 1926 steam boiler was replaced with two high-efficiency hot water boilers, and new electrical service and plumbing upgrades were completed over the years. In any older commercial building, the ages of the boiler, electrical service and roof usually shape a buyer's first-years planning more than finishes do.
Sources
- City of Columbia Heights: Historic Context Study (Thomas R. Zahn & Associates, 2022)
- City of Columbia Heights: Current Development Projects
- Metropolitan Council: Columbia Heights 4300 Central Avenue NE Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Business Item 2026-104)
- City of Columbia Heights: History of Columbia Heights
- Metropolitan Council: Community Profile for Columbia Heights
- Heights Theater: History & Renovation
Nearby towns
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