Want to open shop in North Oaks? It's 'full'

The suburb, and dozens of others, has no more room for commercial development.

By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER, Star Tribune

Last update: November 28, 2008 - 10:44 PM

When a Walgreens opened its doors in a small North Oaks strip mall last week, it meant more than quick prescription refills for the suburb's 4,500 residents.

It marked the end of all new commercial development in this wealthy northern suburb. North Oaks, it seems, is full -- at least when it comes to commercial development. And so are ever-growing numbers of first-ring suburbs, for whom the only development option is redevelopment.

"That was basically the last area plotted for commercial," said North Oaks City Manager Jim March. "There's no more available land.''

Being "full'' poses serious challenges for these first-ring suburbs as they try to compete for retail and industrial development, suburban leaders said. Developers, even small businesses, must wait for an existing parcel of land to become available. And even when it does, they may need to tear down the existing building, de-contaminate a site if it had been industrial, consider parking and other factors, said city officials.

"It's more expensive,'' that's the drawback'' said North St. Paul Mayor Mike Kuehn.

On the other hand, these full, first-ring suburbs can often offer desirable, well-trafficked locations, proximity to the core cities, transportation options for workers and customers, and other features not always available in further-out suburbs, city leaders said.

The Metropolitan Council estimates that about 65 suburbs are at least 85 percent "full." Some cities, ranging from St. Louis Park to Coon Rapids to North St. Paul, are closer to 100 percent.

"This is something you'll find more common as cities and suburbs age,'' said Lisa Barajas, senior planner at the Metropolitan Council.

"Just about every community has some piece of land somewhere that's undeveloped,'' added Kevin Locke, community development director for St. Louis Park. "But if someone asked me where a vacant lot was, I'd be hard pressed to tell them.''

Commercial but no industrial

In small communities such as North Oaks, the phenomena is easiest to track. The city has a planned development agreement with the North Oaks Co., so there's no guesswork about what virgin land is still available.

"We have about 6 acres that could be converted into commercial property, but the North Oaks Co. has no intension of using any land for commercial,'' said Tom Dougherty, president of North Oaks Co. "And we don't really have industrial, which makes us unique.''

What also makes North Oaks unusual is it has only two areas designated commercial. One is the quaint "Village Center'' strip mall that is now home to Walgreens, an upscale-looking store with a shingled exterior. The other is the area near the Presbyterian Homes on Centerville Road.

North Oaks, at least, has prime land available for new residential development. Some cities, such as St. Louis Park, have no untouched land for homes or businesses. Recognizing the lure of wide-open spaces in outer-ring suburbs, the city offers homeowners financial incentives to remodel and expand their existing homes rather than build new someplace else, said Locke.

St. Louis Park even did an inventory of city land a few years ago to see if it could scrape together a few parcels for new housing, he said. It managed to find about a half dozen.

"These aren't exactly subdivisions,'' Locke joked.

Cities and developers have debated these issues for years. But folks such as Kerry Moser, manager of the new North Oaks Walgreens, found the concept of full cities interesting.

"I didn't know we were the last business here, but now that I look around, I can see that,'' Moser said. "I've heard of places where you can't build any more new houses, but not where you can't build new businesses.''

Jean Hopfensperger • 651-298-1553

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