For years, Wilmar Delgado has been working to redevelop El Nuevo Campo, the vacant site near Lake Street and 27th Avenue in Downtown Longfellow.

But Wilmar's connection to this property started long before he became its developer. He remembers the former Rodeo Star as a gathering place for Minneapolis' Latino community, where people came for concerts, food, and time together. Watching the building burn was heartbreaking. When he later learned the property was for sale, he saw an opportunity to bring something back to the site.

What followed was an education in just how difficult development can be.

Over the past several years, Wilmar and his team have explored townhomes, commercial development, market-rate housing, and low-income housing while navigating rising construction costs, financing, pre-development expenses, and the challenge of gaining experience as an emerging developer.

In this conversation with Longfellow Rising, Wilmar talks about why El Nuevo Campo remains vacant, the barriers facing emerging developers, the differences between large and small developers, nonprofit versus for-profit development, and what needs to change to help more small developers get projects built.

His story offers a look at something we don't always see when we pass an empty lot: all the work happening before anything comes out of the ground.

Watch the full conversation with Wilmar Delgado.