A 10-acre piece of land might be the key to spurring redevelopment in Brooklyn Center's commercial and transportation hub.
The Brookdale Ford site is a small part of a 113-acre area that the city wants redeveloped, but city officials are hoping it will attract a developer who will build shops and housing where vacant strip malls and an empty car dealership now sit.
The city's Economic Development Authority and owners of the property approved the purchase of the property for $6.45 million last week. The money will come from tax increment financing funds that the city planned to use for redevelopment.
"The city is purchasing the property and looking to jump-start development," Mayor Tim Willson said. "When you look at the underutilized land, it's sad to see."
In 2001, the Metropolitan Council designated the area north of Brookdale Shopping Center as one of six "opportunity sites" in the metro area. The city has spent the past few years studying how the land could be redeveloped from old commercial buildings to a more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use area.
Even after the city's task force presented a master plan at the beginning of 2006, the project lingered because the properties needed to be acquired and the city was waiting for interested developers.
Willson, who was on the task force before he was elected mayor, said the 10-acre piece of land is the city's first purchase in the opportunity site and, he hopes, it will mark the beginning of the plan's fruition.
"This is the most logical starting point," he said. "We think that if we can pull this site together and the 20 acres adjacent, it will be much more appealing to a developer."
