Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Wayzata Bay Center to make way for condos, pedestrian-friendly shopping

The StarTribune is reporting that the Wayzata Bay Shopping Center is going to fall in stages to make way for mixed residential and retail use. The paper reports that staged demolition will allow the current businesses to continue to operate during construction, although it wasn't clear if all of them would be welcome (or financially able) to stick around for the new development.

United Properties also has a press release outlining the project, which it says is in the early stages of planning.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Rosedale: Mervyn's gone, soon to be forgotten

The Pioneer Press is reporting that Rosedale Center is going to take out the old Mervyn's wing and replace it with a 14-screen movie theatre and "lifestyle shopping," i.e., stores and restaurants that face the outside of the building. (If that kind of sounds like a trendy version of Har Mar, well, it does, but the nearby competitor isn't mentioned in the story.) Steve Scott of the Pioneer Press passes along the following without a hint of irony:
John Schupp, senior vice president of mall manager Jones Lang LaSalle, said the concept is growing nationwide. Rosedale, built in 1969 and renovated in 1992, faces competition from similar centers in Woodbury, Maple Grove and St. Paul's Grand Avenue, he said.
I never thought I'd hear Grand Avenue compared to places in Woodbury or Maple Grove, but there it is.

For what it's worth,
Jones Lang LaSalle doesn't mention the plan on their website.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Endangered Twin Cities:

The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota has released its 10 Most Endangered 2005, a list of the ten historically important properties the Alliance fears may soon be little more than a memory. Included in the list are a number of Twin Cities sites, including the Jacob Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul, the Fort Snelling Upper Bluffs, and the Saint Anthony Falls district in Minneapolis.