No Section

In St. Louis Park, Bridgewater Bank gets approval for new headquarters

It comes two years after the St. Louis Park City Council rejected a mixed-use project along a busy stretch of Excelsior Boulevard.

For the Minnesota Star Tribune

June 28, 2018 at 9:17PM

Bridgewater Bank wants to build a new company headquarters in St. Louis Park. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Address: 4400 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park

Type: Office/retail

Size: 84,000 square feet

Developer: Bridgewater Bank

Architect: DJR Architecture

Details: Two years after the St. Louis Park City Council rejected a mixed-use project along a busy stretch of Excelsior Boulevard, a new development anchored by Bridgewater Bank is finally a "go."

The council earlier this month approved a new proposal for the bank to replace its branch at 4400 Excelsior Blvd., with a four-story, 84,000-square-foot corporate office. It will include a new 7,152-square-foot branch on the ground floor.

The building will also feature 7,530 square feet of additional retail and service space, including a restaurant, as well as a two-level underground parking ramp. The second and third stories will house Bridgewater's executive offices while the top floor will host a co-working space for startups.

The latest iteration received a much-warmer reception than the original proposal made in 2015 by multifamily housing developer Dominium, which called for a six-story building with 148 apartment units built atop a new bank branch. Those plans triggered widespread concerns over housing density and traffic congestion around the busy intersection of Excelsior and Monterey Drive.

A traffic study conducted for the new project predicted the office-only plans would have a "relatively minimal impact" on congestion in the area, generating fewer trips than the Dominium project.