Industrial sites · Minnesota

Duluth Works

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedRegreenedPartly retrofittedDuluth, MN

1600-acre former steel plant (1916-1981) undergoing partial redevelopment; cleanup complete, 40 acres active, public-private partnership. · summary, model-written

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Site profile10 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Place

County lost 10%+ of retail establishments since 2012

This site: -16% census-cbp · all sites with this

Shrinking county

This site: -0.0% census-acs · all sites with this

Policy tool

Public grant or loan

This site: $50,000 investigative grant Former steel plant site undergoing demolition, environmenta newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Scale

60+ acre site

This site: 1600 acres newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: Former steel plant site undergoing demolition, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment into an industrial park, with specific portions planned for warehouse… record · all sites with this

Regreened

New use

Logistics and industrial

This site: …emolition, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment into an industrial park, with specific portions planned for warehouse and ligh newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Office

This site: …t industrial uses, and a photographic enhancement company's headquarters. newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Park and open space

This site: …environmental cleanup, and redevelopment into an industrial park, with specific portions planned for warehouse and light ind newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Partly retrofittednewtypes-extraction reported
Strategy	Partial Redeveloped · RegreenedWikipedia no source
New uses	industrial, logistics, office, other, retailWikipedia no source
What is there now	Former steel plant site undergoing demolition, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment into an industrial park, with specific portions planned for warehouse and light industrial uses, and a photographic enhancement company's headquarters.newtypes-extraction reported
Retrofit year	1975newtypes-extraction reported
Redeveloper	U.S. Steel (demolition/cleanup), City of Duluth/DEDA, Ikonics, Duluth Port Authoritynewtypes-extraction reported

Planning

Public purchase or subsidy	$50,000 investigative grantnewtypes-extraction reported

Site context

Housing permits, St. Louis County (MN), 2024	338 units in 5+ unit buildings, 6 in 2–4, 293 single-family; 2023: 276 in 5+Census BPS
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	11,306 jobs in 736 establishments; average annual pay $36,300; employment location quotient 1.20; employment -0.2% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	411 jobs; 34 in retail trade, 52 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 27137003800)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 42th income percentile as adults; 1.8% incarcerated at the 2010 count (340 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	low-income, low-access tract (1 mile urban / 10 miles rural); 100% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 17.5%; median family income $45,045; 275 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Duluth Public School District (PK-12); 0 public schools within 1 mileNCES EDGE
Elevation	604 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	593 county-logged events: 298 thunderstorm wind, 207 hail, 62 flash flood, 8 flood; $3,903,500 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 55808, 2026-09	median list price $331,225 (+16.4% on the year); 17 active listings; median 43 days on market; 20% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	773 establishments (-16%); 12,122 jobs (-2%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $255,915 (+6% 1 yr, +29% 5 yr); typical rent $1,373/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	1,275 vehicles a day on Idaho St (major collector, 2 lanes); 2 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Duluth Works was an industrial steel/cement complex (1916-1981) operated by U.S. Steel. It closed in 1981, with U.S. Steel beginning demolition in 1975. The site was listed on the Superfund list in 1984 for environmental cleanup. The City of Duluth/DEDA, Duluth Port Authority, and Ikonics led redevelopment. Environmental cleanup was nearly complete by 2023. Ikonics developed 40 acres for warehouse/office use (2008 announcement), with a $50,000 state grant (2009) supporting feasibility.

Why. The site is 1600 acres (larger than most peers), partially redeveloped since 1975, and under public-private partnership. The retrofit is already underway (not a future project).

Where it stands. Partial redevelopment: cleanup complete, 40 acres developed (Ikonics HQ/warehouse), remaining land unassigned. Status remains 'partial'.

For a planner

Superfund cleanup completed (2023)
40 acres active industrial/office use
Public subsidy limited to $50k grant

For a developer

1600 acres available but only 40 acres developed
Public ownership/management (DEDA, Port Authority)
No current financials beyond $50k grant

What we do not know yet

No timeline for remaining land development
No data on current land use or tenant occupancy
No market demand data for industrial/logistics in Duluth

Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Hotel Dyckman, Minneapolis, MN · Other · opened 1910; closed 1979; same strategy: redevelop
Camarillo State Mental Hospital, Camarillo, CA · Other · similar size (1500 acres); same strategy: redevelop
Hauppauge Industrial Park, Hauppauge, NY · Other · similar size (1400 acres); same strategy: redevelop
Sauer Center, Richmond, VA · Industrial sites · opened 1911; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

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Multifamily screen

retrofit already built
1600 acres
public owner

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened	1916newtypes-extraction
Closed	1981newtypes-extraction reported
Acres	1,600newtypes-extraction reported
Original developer	U.S. Steelnewtypes-extraction reported
Anchors	U.S. Steel, Universal Atlas Cement Company
County	St. Louis County
Census division	4 · West North Central
Notes	Draft from Wikipedia, model-extracted, unreviewed: The former 1,600-acre Duluth Works industrial steel and cement manufacturing complex, which closed in 1981, is undergoing demolition, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment into an industrial park with proposed warehouses and office space.

Not yet recorded: GLA. Know it? Tell us.

Background

The Duluth Works was an industrial steel and cement manufacturing complex located in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, in operation from 1916 to 1981. The complex was operated by U.S. Steel. Officially, the plant's purpose was to supply the growing Midwest with steel finished products. Unofficially, they were built as part of a "gentleman's agreement" between U.S. Steel and the State of Minnesota to not impose hefty iron ore taxes on U.S. Steel in exchange for a fully integrated steel plant within Minnesota, whose mines furnished 80% of the ore to U.S. Steel.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1916 Opened
1975 U.S. Steel began to demolish many of the massive structures
1975 Retrofit: redevelop, regreen
1981 Closed
1984 The former Duluth Works steel plant site was put on the National Priorities List for the federally funded "Superfund" program.
2008 Ikonics announced it would develop 40 acres on the property to build a warehouse and move its headquarters.
2009 The State of Minnesota awarded the Duluth Port Authority a $50,000 investigative grant for redevelopment feasibility.
2023 The environmental cleanup was nearly completed.

Sources

Duluth Works · CC BY-SA 4.0
6 quoted sentences
The Duluth Works
In 1975, beginning with the open hearth building, U.S. Steel began to demolish many of the massive structures
In 1984, following an inspection by the Pollution Control Agency, the former Duluth Works steel plant site was put on the National Priorities List for the federally funded "Superfund" program.
In April 2008, the Duluth-based photographic enhancement company, Ikonics, announced it would develop 40 acres (160,000 m2) on the property to build a warehouse and move its West Duluth headquarters operations

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Duluth Works, Duluth, MN." Record n-cff0350c32, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/industrial/mn/duluth-duluth-works/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_duluthduluthworks,
  title = {Duluth Works, Duluth, MN},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/industrial/mn/duluth-duluth-works/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record n-cff0350c32, release 2026-10-20, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-20}
}

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