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2s CityBusiness December 19, 1997
<br /> FILE PHOTO
<br /> G RAVE L PIT i
<br /> lefrom page I . ..: f
<br /> site,especially to the Metropolitan Council,
<br /> is that the 1,900 acres isj inside the council's
<br /> Metropolitan Urban Service Area(MUSA), '
<br /> where the agency wants new development to 3 -1410M-,,,..--ti` a k
<br /> occur to curb urban sprawl. "It makes a lot h _ .
<br /> of sense that development occur within our '" �,,
<br /> MUSA area as opposed to the ex-urban r " ,' e 7 �. - w_.-..;,-..,-` a`•,'� '�'
<br /> k 1 �Y � �' 1
<br /> area,"McElveen said. ' �` _ ,
<br /> The Met Council ex cls to begin afor- €,,�' Y x . x,
<br /> mal review of the city's plan within the next , • 1#is,,,,,' .z fr ;,.` 4,. ; � � .
<br /> few weeks to examine how the plan will y� .�y t �,
<br /> affect the region's sewer and transportation ,,� , . -: J:vn °Pv4r„ * i
<br /> systems,he said.Once the agency approves * + -Q.,-
<br /> it,
<br /> . tt$` ;;
<br /> it,which will come after 60 to 120 days,the r'
<br /> city can start signing off on development tel,,,v R �-e ��•_,s,,
<br /> proposals for the site. : °- -? * i i .S1 �`-
<br /> It won't all be developed at once, since ', , , .,e ..0.-• . . .-.. ,:'
<br /> the gravel companies are still mining large '= dt.-t= u . -4 ,� , „ T'--: ,,;,.;....1-,..-4. '
<br /> portions of the area.Btjt they expect to fin- Alan Madsen,shown at a different site,sees demand for office space in Maple Grove.
<br /> ish and sell off their property within the next •
<br /> 20 years, with dev lopment generally adding that the plan has plenty of flexibility Minnesota.
<br /> spreading from the edges inward. to accommodate developers' wishes. "We The development would include 349
<br /> A top priority for tete city is to create a try to view things here in a cooperative man- units of single-family detached housing and
<br /> downtown, called Town Center, on the ner." townhomes, he said. But Rottlund also is
<br /> western edge of the site,incorporating New Although no leases are signed,Opus has interested in developing other land in the
<br /> Urbanism concepts tht actually resemble its sights set on big-box and fashion retail- mining area when it becomes available.
<br /> rural downtowns. Bes' es building a new ers,an upscale grocery store,a movie theater "You don't really see too many opportuni-
<br /> city hall in addition to a community center and restaurants as well as specialty and ser- ties like this in the metro area that has good
<br /> that's already there, T wn Center, located vice shops for the new development, access to freeways," Stutz said. `"There's a
<br /> near a lake,would fea parks,trails and a Murnane said. tremendous amount of competition for land
<br /> pedestrian-friendly ret 1 district that incor- At the moment, Opus appears to be the within the MUSA."
<br /> porates residential space on upper floors and only major commercial developer actively McElveen,of the Met Council,said he is
<br /> nearby. working in the area.Talk among developers encouraged that the residential portion of
<br /> Minnetonka-based Opus Corp. is work- about building a major regional mall at the Maple Grove's plan calls for a variety of
<br /> ing with the city and operty owner Tiller interchange of I-94 and Highway 169 ended housing types suited for various income 1ev-
<br /> Corp.on a mixed-use poral that includes in 1996,when Simon Property Group Inc.of els. "It's important to meet the needs of
<br /> the Town Center cone pt. The city expects Indianapolis allowed an option to purchase employers for workers,"he said.
<br /> Opus to be involved i a charrette on the 150 acres in that area to lapse. But it's not clear how soon office work-
<br /> Town Center concept, nded by a$150,000 "It doesn't mean it won't start up some ers will have a place to work in Maple
<br /> Minnesota Livable Co unities grant from time,"Madsen said. Grove. Although Opus is proposing office ,
<br /> the state,Madsen said. The city still has 210 acres in that area space,it won't commit to building anything
<br /> While Opus and ci officials are guard- reserved for nearly three million square feet until it lands anchor tenants. "The[specula-
<br /> ing specific details o the proposal, Tim of regional mall space. five] market is not as strong as we'd like to
<br /> Murnane,vice president of real estate devel- Even though plans for a major mall have see it,"Murnane said.
<br /> opment for Opus, said the project could stalled,the Maple Grove area is attractive to Rival Minneapolis-based developer,
<br /> include between 500.0("to 700,000 square retailers because of its rapid growth, said Ryan Cos.,agrees. "You're not going to go
<br /> feet of retail space, 500,000 to 750,000 Dick Grones of Edina-based Cambridge up there and put up a 200,000-square-foot
<br /> square feet of Class-A ffice space and hun- Commercial Realty, who is representing office tower like you would in
<br /> dreds of medium- to 'gh-density housing national retailers interested in the Opus pro- Bloomington,"said John Griffith,vice ores-
<br /> units. ject, including several restaurant chains. ident at Ryan.
<br /> Some of it, includi g many of the hous- "People still love the area,"he said. Initial office construction probably will
<br /> ing units,would be p of Town Center.But Maple Grove has grown rapidly. be buildings constructed for specific tenants,
<br /> Opus also wants to evelop a significant According to Met Council estimates, the he said, adding that developers need to see
<br /> retail and office comp x fronting I-94,just city's population has more than doubled other office buildings on the horizon before
<br /> east of the 275,000-square-foot Maple since 1980,to 44,000 in 1995.A population they build one without major lease commit-
<br /> Grove Crossing retail power center that of 60,600 is anticipated by the year 2010, ments.
<br /> Opus developed in 1995. Anchors in the growing to 73,000 by 2020. "To be the very first one,you either need
<br /> existing shopping center include Kohl's, The Rottlund Co.Inc.certainly is looking to have a big red Superman'S'on your chest
<br /> Barnes&Noble,Old avy and Homeplace. at those numbers—and the mining site— and a lot of luck,or you need to have a lead
<br /> "They [Opus] hav a good track record with great interest. The Roseville-based tenant to be successful,"Griffith said. •
<br /> here," said Al Madse , Maple Grove city homebuilder has already built about 500 Madsen replied that Maple Grove does
<br /> administrator. housing units elsewhere in Maple Grove and have demand for office space,citing a small
<br /> The developer has et to submit a formal is working with London-based Camas, speculative office building recently built
<br /> application to develop he site.'There's a lot which owns mining land there, to develop near Maple Grove Crossing."John[Griffith]
<br /> of give-and-take that 'ill take place before 71 acres north of Weaver Lake Road, said has to realize, the crowd's coming here,"
<br /> any application is sub itted,"Madsen said, Todd Stutz, president of Rottlund Homes Madsen said. ■
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