Other · Minnesota

Lobb Field

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedDemolishedRochester, MN

Former airport demolished; now Meadow Park/Ben Franklin Elementary. Housing market growing (3.5% annual price rise), 1,269 units approved in 2023–2024. Low opportunity score due to unsourced status. · summary, model-written

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Site profile6 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Place

County lost 10%+ of retail establishments since 2012

This site: -13% census-cbp · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: Meadow Park, including Ben Franklin Elementary School record · all sites with this

New use

Civic and government

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

Education

This site: Meadow Park, including Ben Franklin Elementary School newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Housing

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

Park and open space

This site: Meadow Park, including Ben Franklin Elementary School newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	DemolishedWikipedia no source
Strategy	RedevelopedWikipedia no source
New uses	civic, housingWikipedia no source
What is there now	Meadow Park, including Ben Franklin Elementary Schoolnewtypes-extraction reported

Site context

Housing permits, Olmsted County (MN), 2024	915 units in 5+ unit buildings, 10 in 2–4, 314 single-family; 2023: 545 in 5+Census BPS
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	10,353 jobs in 498 establishments; average annual pay $38,827; employment location quotient 1.00; employment -0.1% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	2,260 jobs; 551 in retail trade, 324 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 27109001000)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 46th income percentile as adults; 3.9% incarcerated at the 2010 count (318 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 7% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 11.2%; median family income $74,648; 312 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Rochester Public School District (PK-12); 15 public schools within 1 mile: ROCHESTER MATH AND SCIENCE ACADEMY; ROCHESTER STEM ACADEMY; RSTEM Online; Rochester Phoenix AcademyNCES EDGE
Elevation	1,017 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	221 county-logged events: 90 hail, 88 thunderstorm wind, 12 flood, 11 heavy rain; $2,500,000 property damage reported; 1 direct deaths; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 55904, 2026-09	median list price $339,900 (-0.6% on the year); 90 active listings; median 42 days on market; 23% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	516 establishments (-13%); 11,601 jobs (+11%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $349,397 (+4% 1 yr, +18% 5 yr); typical rent $1,603/mo (+2% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	10,658 vehicles a day on 1 (minor arterial, 4 lanes); 9 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Lobb Field, a former airport established in 1928 by the Mayo Foundation, was demolished. The site now includes Meadow Park and Ben Franklin Elementary School. The record states it was originally a 285-acre airport serving Rochester, Minnesota.

Why. The site is categorized as 'demolished' with no current development status. Housing market data shows a 3.5% annual price increase (ZHVI) and 1.7% rent growth (ZORI) as of 2026-09. Olmsted County grew 6.8% population 2018–23. Recent construction permits (2023–2024) show 1,269 housing units approved ($547M value). Retail establishments declined 12.8% but employment rose 11% (2012–2023).

Where it stands. Status: Demolished. New use: Civic/housing (per record). Verified status: Draft (unsourced). Opportunity score: 25.0 (low, per record: 'closed or demolished per category only, +0 until sourced').

For a planner

Site repurposed as park/school (Meadow Park, Ben Franklin Elementary).
Housing market shows growth (3.5% annual price rise).
Recent permits indicate active housing development (1,269 units approved 2023–2024).
Retail decline but employment growth noted.

For a developer

No current developer named.
No specific redevelopment plans detailed.
Housing market data supports potential residential focus.
Low opportunity score reflects unsourced status (record notes 'no source' for demolition status).

What we do not know yet

No current developer or project timeline provided.
Demolition source not verified (record states 'draft' status).
No details on civic use (e.g., park features, school capacity).
Traffic data shows minor arterial (4 lanes, 10,658 ADT) but no access analysis.

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.

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Elsewhere on the web

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Multifamily screen

closed or demolished per category only, +0 until sourced
county grew 6.8% 2018–23
housing in the record

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

Original developer	Mayo Foundationnewtypes-extraction
Anchors	Northwest Airways, Mid-Continent, Western, Ozark Airlines
County	Olmsted County
Census division	4 · West North Central
Notes	Draft from Wikipedia, model-extracted, unreviewed: Lobb Field, a former airport and military airfield established in 1928 by the Mayo Foundation, was redeveloped into Meadow Park, including Ben Franklin Elementary School, after closing in 1961.

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, year opened, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Lobb Field is a former airport and military airfield in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. == History == Lobb Field, the original airport for Rochester, was established in 1928 by the Mayo Foundation to get patients to the Mayo Clinic. It was in what is now South-East Rochester and occupied 285 acres (115 ha). Plans for the airport were announced on 13 July 1928, the day that scheduled air service to Rochester began. Starting on that date, Jefferson Airways operated two Ford Tri-motor flights per day between Rochester and St.

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

Sources

Lobb Field · CC BY-SA 4.0
1 quoted sentence
Lobb Field

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Lobb Field, Rochester, MN." Record n-77ecf6ef81, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/other/mn/rochester-lobb-field/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_rochesterlobbfield,
  title = {Lobb Field, Rochester, MN},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/other/mn/rochester-lobb-field/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record n-77ecf6ef81, 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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