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LIFESTYLE COMMONS
13950 GROVE DRIVE, MAPLE GROVE
Type: Retail condominiums
Size: 30,300 square feet
Area: 2.1 acres
Developer: Arrow Contracting Inc.
Details: Maple Grove is getting a bit of relief from the nationwide trend of disappearing family-style restaurants after approving a three-store retail project where a shuttered Bakers Square now stands.
The restaurant has been empty for several years and isn't the first one along the suburb's Elm Creek Boulevard commercial corridor to close. The area has also lost such casual-dining eateries as Joe's Crab Shack, Hops Restaurant & Brewery, Bella Sera Wine Bar Ristorante and Green Mill, as well as a Krispy Kreme franchise.
In a sign of the troubled times for such recession-sensitive establishments, Bakers Square's owner, Denver-based Vicorp Restaurants Corp., filed for bankruptcy last year, selling its 267 restaurants in March to an investment group led by title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc.
Maple Grove Community Development Director Dick Edwards says despite the plight of some of its restaurants, the city's commercial "downtown" at the Interstate 694/494 merge is still a healthy environment for retail, as the new, 30,500-square-foot Lifestyle Commons indicates.
"The site's access is unparalleled, and Arbor Lakes [the nearby regional mall] is a huge draw, pulling people from all corners of the Twin Cities, so it will be in a good location," he said.
Plans submitted by local firm Arrow Contracting indicate it's planning a three-storefront condominium development, featuring a Simonson's Salon & Day Spa, Maple Grove Cycling and a Dave's Sport Shop. Arrow's Steve Fischer did not return a call for comment, but he did tell the Maple Grove Planning Commission he had letters-of-intent from the retailers but no signed purchase agreements, pending approval of the project. The commission voted unanimously on April 27 to approve Lifestyle Commons' development stage plan.
Edwards said Elm Creek Boulevard has also seen other replacements for closed eateries -- the Krispy Kreme, for instance, is being redeveloped into a credit union and Broadway Pizza replaced Joe's Crab Shack.
"National economics are driving some of these restaurant closings, and considering the climate for restaurants, I think we're holding up well," he said.
DON JACOBSON
Don Jacobson, a freelance writer based in St. Paul, can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@ gmail.com.
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