Cedar Grove revitalization pace painful to area merchants

At Jensen's Supper Club in Eagan on Thursday, a chef ladled batter for the restaurant's famous popovers into tins while others were in the oven, their aroma wafting through the kitchen. That the popovers will be served to each dinner customer is a certainty here at Jensen's on Hwy. 13.

Beyond that, owner Doron Jensen said, he hasn't seen much certainty for his business, which remains one of a few still standing in the Cedar Grove Redevelopment District. The city has torn down other businesses and left lots vacant, planning for the revitalization of this 70-acre area.

But legal challenges and a lagging economy have posed major hurdles for the project. The city's plans have changed a half-dozen times in as many years, Jensen said, and each time, he's grown more disappointed.

The dust from demolition blows past the restaurant. To the west is a giant mound of rubble, all that's left of the Cedarvale Shopping Center, which the city tore down last summer.

"It's like you're in a river and you're just being carried along, and you hope you don't get washed up on the bank," Jensen said. "I'm working through a major-league recession, like nothing we've ever seen. And it is not any help to be sitting between boarded up properties, without knowing what is in sight."

City officials, however, said they are working to help Jensen and his restaurant as they continue working toward their vision for this "gateway" to Eagan.

"With Doron Jensen, we have reached out a great deal to him," City Administrator Tom Hedges said. "We are extremely sensitive to his needs [and] want to see him stay. He's a valued asset to the community, to the area."

Eagan paid $35 million to condemn and acquire 31 Cedar Grove parcels between 2002 and 2007. Three owners successfully appealed the taking of their land.

Tuesday, the City Council will decide its next moves, including whether to ask Minnesota's Supreme Court to review the May 19 decision by the Court of Appeals.

And Wednesday is the deadline for the city to receive a development plan for the first phase of the project from master developer Doran-Pratt.

It will include a two-building hotel complex, a 250-unit market-rate apartment complex and a 150-unit senior housing development, Hedges said. Green space also is being included, and space is being set aside for future retail, he said.

Already, Hedges said, on the west end of the district, work has begun on the Cedar Grove Transit Station parking lot and shelter. Also breaking ground in the past month is an affordable housing development for young adults near Silver Bell Road and Cedar Grove Parkway.

The eminent domain process was challenged by Larson Automotive, U-Haul and Competition Engines, who maintained that they weren't being fairly compensated. It's unclear if their land will become part of a 29-acre second phase of the Cedar Grove redevelopment.

Gary Fuchs, an attorney for plaintiff Larson Automotive, said it's also unclear whether his client, Jerry Larson, will reopen his auto repair business. With so much uncertainty, Larson had been unable to keep workers or customers and had closed it. The other two businesses are still running.

Jensen said his property would have cost the city $3 million, so the city was not interested in buying it, nor the adjacent Cedarvale Lanes.

Jensen opened his restaurant 12 years ago, and recently, he's been negotiating with the city, hoping to get more parking spaces through an easement on the property adjacent to his, where an empty bank building still stands. The city paid $1.2 million for that property.

Hedges said despite the recession, Eagan is moving ahead with redevelopment, and that should draw more people into the area, including to Jensen's.

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017