Frogtown is poised to take a big leap forward.

In addition to the Central Corridor light-rail line planned for University Avenue, the historic St. Paul neighborhood is one of five areas in the country to get help from national experts in developing shopping areas.

Two national organizations will help pay for market research on how to develop the area around Dale Street and University Avenue and lure national retailers or other businesses to locate there. The belief is that there's money to be spent -- and made -- in urban areas, not just the suburbs.

The intersection of Dale and University, once known for sex and skin, is now viewed as a prime plot for new development.

The focus will mostly be on Dale Street between Central and Minnehaha avenues, but information will be gathered from a 2-mile radius. Using research data and a newly developed plan, Frogtown representatives hope to make some deals in May.

They plan to attend a national retail convention in Las Vegas, where their goal will be to bring in a mix of new businesses that will complement what's already there, said Steve Boland, executive director of the Greater Frogtown Community Development Corporation.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Super Foods employee Victor Hernandez replaced stock at the new 50,000-square-foot St. Paul supermarket at Pierce Butler Route and Dale Street.

Based on the research, the Local Initiative Support Corporation, which is a national neighborhood revitalization group, and the International Council of Shopping Centers will help match prospective retail merchants with the neighborhood. The other areas involved are in Detroit, Jacksonville, Fla.; New York City, and Philadelphia.

To be selected, neighborhoods needed to have space that was available for retail development and evidence of public and government support for the area (such as the light-rail line).

Suburban shopping malls are one way to make money, but so are commercial areas -- with dense population and mass transit -- in urban neighborhoods, Boland said.

"Frogtown has emerged as this wonderful place for new immigrant businesses, restaurants, clothing and jewelry stores," Boland said. He said just getting the market data would cost more than $10,000 if his organization had to pay for it.

Residents in some urban neighborhoods might not have as much discretionary income as those in tonier parts of town, but people still need to buy things, said Andriana Abariotes, executive director of the Twin Cities arm of the Local Initiative Support Corp.

St. Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter III, a Frogtown resident, said his neighbors want to spend money close to home but don't have as many options. In a community that depends heavily on mass transit, shops within walking distance are an amenity.

Frogtown is an old area; folks began settling there as early as the 1860s. Generally an industrial and blue-collar residential neighborhood, its population has ebbed and flowed over the years. Major demographic shifts happened in the 1970s and '80s as immigrants began to move in, and the area now is the most ethnically diverse in the east metro.

The dirty books, skin flicks and strip clubs left the intersection of Dale and University years ago. At one time the intersection was home to the Belmont Club, Faust Theatre and Flick Theater, all sex-oriented businesses that eventually were purchased by the city and either razed or renovated. The site of the old Faust, on the southwest corner, is now the Rondo Community Outreach Library. The Belmont, on the northeast corner, became a police station, but it's now slated for demolition and redevelopment. A national drug store has been one thought for part of the site.

Opportunities to be had

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who lived in Frogtown for a decade, said there are incredible opportunities in the neighborhood.

Daisy Haung would agree.

Her family owns Shuang Hur grocery store on University near Dale and Super Foods at Pierce Butler Route and Dale. The 50,000-square-foot Super Foods, which opened a few months ago, houses a grocery store for bulk items as well as the Golden Globe Mall, an indoor space with stalls for small business owners and restaurants.

"It's a busy place," she said of the neighborhood.

She's excited about the prospect of luring new businesses to the neighborhood, but she cautioned that there are a lot of family-owned businesses, and it's important that they benefit from whatever new enterprises come in.

Still, she said, there's success to be found in Frogtown.

Chris Havens • 651-298-1542