The Students’ Co-op is a housing cooperative founded in 1940 within a historic 1908 Fraternity Chapter House at the University of Minnesota. At maximum capacity, the Co-op houses 32 residents within 18 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a generous shared kitchen and dining space. This is an intentional community featuring shared meals, shared decision-making, and shared ownership.
This project is close to home for us. Both founders of keep, Austin and Kotono, met and lived together at the Students’ Co-op from 2015-2018.
Our design included revealing the brickwork and limestone structure, tuck pointing and exposing the crafted arches buried within the crumbling plaster walls. The kitchen has all new appliances and all the bathroom fixtures are updated. The hallways and bedrooms were taken down to the studs and repaired with new drywall and fire safety mechanicals.
The co-op was originally designed as a Fraternity House for the Unviersity of Minnesota by architect, Frederick Kees (a contributing architect to Minneapolis’ City Hall). The size and layout of a shared house is unique to fraternity structures but conducive to a cooperative housing community and contributes to an essential diversity of housing at the nexus of affordability, flexibility, community, and ownership.
While living at the House, Austin contributed to the registration of the Co-op as Minneapolis’ first intentional community. This zoning code designation was also fought for by members of the house who imagined a future of increased density, and closer community through this housing type.
Due to the pandemic, many residents moved out and the home was inhabited by squatters who vandalized the interior and left immense damage. This created the opportunity and condition for a much needed reset for the future of the House. We see this as a reincarnation of an existing cooperative but also a roadmap for other mid-size cooperative projects to follow in the future.
For more information on the Students’ Co-op organization and to apply, visit studentscoop.org
The Students’ Co-op won a 2025 Minneapolis Preservation Awards for Historic Restoration, Rehabilitation, or Adaptive Reuse. Read more at aia-mn.org
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