Hot property: Bielenberg Gardens

SW quadrant, Bailey Road & Radio Drive, Woodbury

Type: Retail

First phase size: 90,000 square feet

First phase area: 30 acres

Developer: United Properties

Architect: Architectural Consortium

Details: Seven months after it was first announced, United Properties' proposal for a new grocery-anchored retail center in Woodbury made its first appearance before a public body this week, with new details about the 200-acre Bielenberg Gardens revealed at a meeting of the city's Planning Commission.

The developer indicated then it expected a June construction start, but that timetable has proved optimistic. Its request for rezoning, planned unit development, conditional use permit and site plan approvals for a 30-acre first phase were all OK'd by the commission in a 3-2 vote Monday, and now move on to the City Council.

The site plan submitted by United Properties showed the grocery store, an attached 6,500-square-foot liquor store and an adjacent 12,300-square-foot retail building making up the first phase of the project. Twelve other buildings are envisioned for later phases, including a pair of restaurants, two fast-food outlets, a drugstore, a bank and gas station.

One feature is a landscaped central stormwater retention pond, which would be hooked up to a water reuse system to irrigate the entire site.

Planners said "walkability" — one of the key conditions of the city's "urban village" master plan for the site — was met through the use of new trails along Bailey Road and Radio Drive as well as sidewalk connections within the site.