The heavy machinery is now breaking ground for North Branch Market Place, a new development that will include an 80,000-square-foot Shopko store and also a grocery store just off Interstate 35. The 50,000- to 58,000-square-foot grocery store will be connected to nearly 21,000 square feet of shops, said Steve Johnson, vice president of development for Solomon Real Estate Group, the Eden Prairie-based developer.
In addition, there will be five free-standing commercial "pads," though Arby's and a Holiday gas station store are now finalizing lease agreements for two of them, Johnson said.
North Branch Market Place will be on the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and Hwy. 95. The City Council gave final approval last week for the development, which is slated to open by Oct. 15.
Johnson said he's also negotiating lease agreements with the Dunn Bros coffee, Papa Murphy's pizza and Fantastic Sams hair salon chains.
As with most communities, North Branch has seen a slump in growth in residential building. The city expects to finish the year with only 25 or 30 new home-building permits issued. That's down from the 100 or so two years ago, said Al Cottingham, planning director for the city.
But in addition to the Market Place development, a new industrial park is also going up at County Road 30 and 400th Street, Cottingham said
"It's great real estate," Johnson said of the shopping center site. "It's on the corner of two major arterial roads, 35 and Highway 95, in an underserved retail area of North Branch." Linda Zelm of the Griffin Cos., which is handling leasing for the Market Place project, said with the rising cost of fuel, people in the northern counties want more to have businesses and stores within a shorter distance of their homes, rather than to drive to Minneapolis or St. Paul.
"It's a long trek for them, even from North Branch to even Rosedale or Maplewood Mall," Zelm said. "People want to have their shopping near where they live, and North Branch has not seen a major expansion in retail, I suppose, since the Tanger outlet mall in the 1990s" off Hwy. 95.
