After Nearly a Century, a New Lehman’s is Coming to Lyndale

It’s been almost one hundred years since opened its doors at Lyndale Avenue and 54th Street in South Minneapolis. In 1917, L.P. Lehman opened the business as a blacksmith shop. He later left the shop to sons Ed and Fred, who sold Lehman’s to its current owners, the Cossettes, some 42 years ago. Fred, who was a close friend of Dick Cossette, stayed on to work at Lehman’s until he passed away.  

After 94 years, the walls of the auto body, mechanical and glass repair shop are coming down this fall. In their place will be a new, more environmentally-friendly and smartly-designed space. Karen Cossette, CEO of Lehman’s Garage, said it was simply time for a new building; the current structure is inefficient and past the point of repair. 

“It’ll be so much more energy efficient," Cossette said. "Sometimes you just have to say enough’s enough.”

The new Lehman’s Garage will be thinner and longer, taking over the space of the vacant building next door, which the company owns. The newly created space behind the building will be a rain garden.

Minnetonka-based developer Oppidan Investment Company is handling the redevelopment. Construction manager for the project, Pat Barrett, said other environmentally-friendly elements include operable windows to reduce heating and cooling requirements, higher windows for more natural light, high efficiency rooftop units and bi-fold doors that have quadruple the life cycle of standard overhead doors. After all, when you’re dealing with a business that’s been around since the early 1900s, you have to think long-term. 

“This one’s got to last another hundred years,” Barrett said. 

Oppidan is handling everything with the City, including compliance with Neighborhood Overlay District requirements. As Cossette said, a lot of new rules have been introduced since the location was last renovated in the 1980s. 

“It all has to comply and it has and we’re proud,” Cossette said. 

Rick Cossette, second generation owner and an integral part of Lehman’s, said the environmental aspect of the re-build is important not just as a business but as a neighbor.

“We’ve got a great relationship with the people around us," he said. "It’s very important for us to be neighborly and be healthy with everybody around here. We’ve been neighbors for a long time and we’d like to keep it that way,”

While the building is scheduled to be leveled on June 6, the location will remain open during construction. A trailer will serve as a temporary office and the technicians will work from the company’s Bloomington location, where vehicles will be taken for repair. Customers will still drop off and pick up cars at the South Minneapolis location as usual.  

“It’s just like any other time; we just have to run it a few miles to get it fixed,” Rick Cossette said.

Lehman’s Garage plans to be working on cars in South Minneapolis again by November 1.

There’s no doubt the project is a big undertaking, but Karen Cossette said their loyal customers make it all worth it. 

"We have such good customers and they deserve it,” she said. “If we didn’t have such good customers, I wouldn’t even think about it."