It's been about year since Almsted's Sunnyside Market in south Minneapolis closed. Now the prime site near 44th Street and France Avenue is in play as the future home of a CVS pharmacy.
That prospect has drawn mixed reactions in the neighborhood, which straddles Minneapolis and Edina and is made up mostly of small storefronts.
Velmeir Companies, which has built other CVS stores around Minnesota, has not yet submitted plans to the city. Velmeir and Rhode Island-based CVS Caremark Corp. declined to comment.
But Velmeir has met with neighborhood groups over the past few months to hear their concerns about the proposed project's scale and design, which many consider too much like a suburban big box store. The 14,000-square-foot pharmacy would be about the same size as the grocery store, but the entire development would take up more space. The developers also want to build on an adjacent parcel that now has a gas station.
The Linden Hills Neighborhood Council has been gathering input from area businesses and residents, and found that in addition to the store's design, many people are disappointed that the plans don't call for a mixed-use development combining housing and retail.
But the group recognizes it can't dictate what's eventually built, according to Linea Palmisano, council board chair.
"It's a private commercial property," Palmisano said. "We feel good that we can get the various parties talking to one another and make our views known."
The latest store design, presented at a Planning Commission committee meeting Thursday, does show that developers have responded to some neighborhood concerns. The facade is now nearly all brick instead of a stucco-like material that was part of the original plans. The main entrance initially was on 45th Street but now faces France, making the store more open to the corner's commercial district. Some signs on the 45th Street side that would have faced residences have been removed.
