The Minneapolis Downtown Council has a new leader at a time of renewed apprehension about the state of central business districts across the county. On Monday, the council announced that Adam Duininck has been appointed president and CEO.

Since 2017, Duininck has served as director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, the upper Midwest chapter of the broader Urban Brotherhood of Carpenters union. Before that, Duininck demonstrated his policy chops at the Metropolitan Council, where he served as chair for two years back in 2015. He was also a board member at the Met Council for years before that.

Duininck replaces Steve Cramer, who led the Minneapolis Downtown Council for a decade and announced plans to retire earlier this year. In a statement, council officials said that Duininck brings a commitment to “enhancing the vibrancy and vitality of Minneapolis’s downtown district.” But the future of downtown Minneapolis is, of course, an open question, and the district’s long-simmering problems have been well documented over the years. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal took a deep dive into downtown Minneapolis as part of a wider report on the state of American downtowns.

The Minneapolis Downtown Council itself, meanwhile, has had to make hard choices amid a rapidly changing downtown landscape. Earlier this month, the council cancelled the long-running Holidazzle festival due to a lack of “sustainable funding.” A decade ago, when Cramer took the top spot at the council, the organization made a similarly drastic change to the event, morphing it from a grand parade down Nicollet Avenue to a smaller festival in Loring Park.

For his part, Duininck is no stranger to complex problems with complex solutions. During his time at the Met Council, he helped rein in costs on the Southwest light-rail project, also known as SWLRT. Upon his departure from the agency in 2017, Edina mayor Jim Hovland said that Duininck “was thrown headlong into the complexities and intricacies of SWLRT, but he never so much as blinked at the pressure involved.”

Downtown council officials also maintained that Duininck has “a track record of leadership and a deep understanding of the local community.” His appointment comes as the council begins laying out plans for their 10-year “vision” for downtown Minneapolis. “[Duininck’s] vision for a vibrant downtown Minneapolis aligns perfectly with our 2035 Planning Process,” said Karin Lucas, board chair of the council.

Duininck also takes on the role of president and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District, a separate nonprofit run as a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of the council.