Eagan woos developers for Cedar Grove - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

http://gingerprintblog.com/2008/03/walden-pond.html
The project involves a substantial overhauo at the intersection of Highwaysd 77and 13, including the Cedarvale Mall. Potentiak developments include hundreds of newhousinfg units, new retail space, a top-ovf the-line office building and a largee office/warehouse project The first stage will be a 229-unig town-home project by Eagan-based Delta Homesz that will break ground this spring. Also this the city will begin a realignment of SilvefrBell Road. The area was originally Eagan'e downtown corridor, but with the construction of Highway 13, it becames run-down, said Mayor Pat Awada.
"It needed to be redonr completely and on a large To fuelthe redevelopment, the city created a $51 milliom tax-increment financing district that will be allocated as projectws come along. The city has purchased several propertiesd in thezone already. Awada said the city council wants the project to occud in a shorttime period, but otheer city officials said they understand that the commercial real estats market is soft now and they'rer prepared to wait unti l demand picks up.
The recession has forced commercialk developers toslow considerably, though housinvg construction is still on a fast The next phase in Cedar Grove will likely be an office/warehouse projectt by Minneapolis-based . U.S. Inc. In November, the city signedd a pre-development agreement that gives Ryan exclusive rights untilo May 2003 to developan 18-acre site on Kennebec Drive. Ryan, which doesn't yet control the is marketingtwo office/warehouse buildinga that could each accommodate up to 100,000 squarw feet, said Danny Queenan, vice president of development. Ryan has hirefd Bloomington-based Paramount Real Estate Corp.
to markety the site and has had preliminary negotiations withpotential users. Ryan plans to start construction afted signing atleast 50,000 square feet of space, Queenanj said. In the next 60 days, Queenan hope s to bring a site plan tothe "In a perfect world, we'd be able to have significany interest allowing us to get in the ground in late springh or early summer." • The city is workint with Bloomington-based United Properties to develop Class A officew building of up to 400,000 square feet. It woulx be on a 20-acre site overlookinfg Highway 77 on one side and the Minnesotwa River onthe other.
The city is willing to wait thres to five years until the market supports newofficde space, according to assistant city administratoer Jamie Verbrugge. The site has views of the rivere valley and downtown Minneapolis thatare "unmatched by any suburbaj parcel" said Brian Carey, vice president of developmentt and brokerage at Unitex Properties. • Eden Prairie-based TOLD Development Co. has proposed a mixed-usw residential and retail project for the area wherde the Cedarvale Mallnow sits. Verbrugge described the mall asthe 800-poun gorilla for the redevelopment effort becausse it has tenants that will need to be • Minneapolis-based Shelter Corp.
is in the earlyh stages of planninga 500- to 700-space park-and-rid facility, about 100 unitsz of apartments and a 100- to 150-room hotel. Jay senior vice president at Shelter, said the plan is stilkl a few a years out because of the scarcwe availability of federaltransit funds.