Keeping up with the Dales: it's Rosedale's turn to expand

Rosedale Center is planning a two-story expansion and interior remodeling, its biggest makeover since 2006 as it keeps up with changes at other Twin Cities shopping centers.

The expansion will be on the mall's northeast corner, between a J.C. Penney Co. anchor store and an area called the Plaza that was built a decade ago to house a movie theater along with new shops and restaurants.

It will add 141,000 square feet to the existing 1.1 million square feet of retail space at the mall. A 450-stall parking deck will also be added to replace spaces lost to the expanding mall footprint, according to documents submitted to the city of Rose­ville for preliminary review.

If approved by city officials, site preparation and construction could begin later this year with completion set for late 2017 or early 2018.

Mall General Manager Scott Michaelis said the expansion will "most likely be an anchor store," but could not confirm a commitment.

Jones Lang LaSalle, the property management firm, also plans to remodel the entire mall's interior, which was last updated in 1992.

"It's time to spruce up the interior, improve the sightlines and enable technology," Michaelis said. "The expansion is really just to fill a hole that Rosedale has with a certain demographic and to keep us competitive in the marketplace."

In 2005, Jones Lang LaSalle tore down the east-side anchor — a Donaldsons when the mall was built and a Mervyn's by then — to make way for the Plaza addition. It spent $55 million on the renovation that positioned the mall to weather the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009.

After the economy recovered, new construction and renovation activity picked up at other malls in the metro area. The Mall of America in Bloomington is nearing completion on its $325 million expansion that began last year. Both Southdale and Ridgedale have undertaken major redesigns, with Ridgedale rebuilding anchor positions for Nordstrom and Macy's.

And the area's newest mall, the Twin Cities Premium Outlets in Eagan, is celebrating its one-year anniversary this weekend.