Plymouth's project "Agora" set to commence

West metro suburbs sees increase in hotels, with the latest coming to Plymouth in 'urban-type village' - The two new luxury hotels will be the first hotels in Plymouth in a decade.


Excerpt:

Plymouth’s abandoned Four Seasons Mall and its parking lots soon will be replaced with senior housing, shops and two upscale hotels — the first hotels to be built in the suburb in a decade. The project, dubbed Agora, got preliminary approval from the City Council this week for redevelopment of the 17-acre site near Hwy. 169 and Rockford Road. The council is expected to give final approval next week for the project, and also may weigh a lodging tax and tax-increment financing. ... Agora developer Rock Hill Management has signed a purchase agreement and is leading the $52 million redevelopment. Traffic and environmental assessments have been done, and the project would include wetland restoration and phosphorus removal. Agora, slated to be an “urban-type village,” would replace the 1970s mall that has sat vacant near the busy corner for about five years. “It’s blighted,” Callister said of the mall property. “It’s pretty exciting to have something actually in that area.” Wal-Mart bought the site in 2010 for $10.6 million and was going to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter, but the massive retailer faced resistance from neighbors. Citing poor soil, 4 acres of uninhabitable wetlands and traffic concerns, the City Council placed a yearlong moratorium on the site while a market study was conducted. A mixed-use development with offices, retail and senior housing was ultimately recommended, and Wal-Mart wound up putting the site up for sale in 2015. Besides the 95-room Aloft hotel and a 100-room Town Place Suites, Agora — which means “gathering place” in Greek — would feature a 139-unit senior housing project with independent, assisted- and memory-care units; retail, offices, restaurants, a bank and a mini plaza that could host community events. It also would include a three-story, 339-space parking ramp, which the city could agree Tuesday to buy from the developer for $5 million to accommodate park-and-ride commuters taking an express bus to Minneapolis. Construction is slated to start on retail space, offices, hotels and ramp this summer. Those areas could open by December; the senior housing is expected to open by December 2019.

Comments: WalMart still reports as the owner of the property: PID 1311822140013. Search by PID here.  Top two images from the project Agora Facebook page. Also see project website. For previous posts on the topic click on the #tags here and here

Plymouth waiting for Wal-Mart to reveal plans for vacant mall site

Plymouth waiting for Wal-Mart to reveal plans for vacant mall site

Excerpt:

Plymouth city officials have not heard from Wal-Mart for more than eight months as residents wait anxiously for the retail giant to submit an application to build at the site of the vacant Four Seasons Mall.

In November 2010, Wal-Mart purchased the 21-acre property at the corner of Hwy. 169 and Rockford Road for $10.6 million, originally intending to demolish the half-vacant strip mall and build a 240,000-square-foot Supercenter in its place.

After facing resistance from the neighborhood and a yearlong development moratorium from the City Council, the Arkansas-based retailer has decided to take its time in submitting an application to the city.

“It’s something that’s hanging over everyone’s head,” said Council Member Ginny Black, who represents the area of Plymouth that includes Four Seasons. “People drive by [Four Seasons] all the time thinking, ‘I wonder what they’re going to do?’ … Sometimes it’s just better to know than to have all that uncertainty out there.” Black added that she was “disappointed” that Wal-Mart has gone so long without communicating with city staff and that her constituents are “overwhelmingly opposed” to the construction of a massive Wal-Mart at the Four Seasons site, although many would be amenable to a smaller store.

“Wal-Mart is continuously looking for new ways to serve its customers across the state of Minnesota. Though we have not submitted a proposal to the city of Plymouth, we are still working on plans to develop the former site of Four Seasons Mall,”

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Rachel Wall wrote in an e-mail sent through the Minneapolis-based public relations firm ­Karwoski and Courage. Wal-Mart declined to answer any follow-up questions, and Peter Coyle, a Minneapolis-based attorney who has been working for Wal-Mart on the Four Seasons site, did not respond to interview requests.

Comment: Here's my take as a Plymouth resident: Plymouth blew it by resisting development of the site.

Consultant re Four Seasons site: "This site is not all that large for community retail"

Plymouth study foresees mixed-use possibility at Four Seasons

Excerpt:

mixed-use development is among ideas suggested by consultants working on a Plymouth market study regarding the future of the Four Seasons Mall in Plymouth.

The analysis by consulting firm Bonestroo Services recommended steering clear of community retail, including big-box stores, and focusing on neighborhood retail, senior housing and retail medical office space, the Bonestroo researchers and city staff revealed May 5 at the Plymouth Creek Center. A questionnaire for audience members requested their thoughts on mixed-use development ideas including a mix of senior housing, neighborhood-oriented retail, medical office or small office space.

Wal-Mart now owns the Four Seasons Mall, and consultants for the prominent chain attended the first of two presentations on the market study but did not weigh in. The consultants have been monitoring the process and requested city documents, said Steve Juetten, Plymouth's community development director.

"From my point of view, they've taken a back seat to see how this goes," Juetten said. "They understand we have the right to do what we're doing."

Lisa Nelson, a senior manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart, said representatives for the retailer planned a conference call with company officials to discuss the study.

"We just haven't had the chance to digest it yet," she said. "We want to work with the city, and we want to work with the neighbors so we can be part of a development that meets everyone's needs."

The Plymouth City Council has approved a moratorium preventing building on the site while the city conducts a study process.

The Bonestroo consultants steered clear of recommending community retail during presentations.

"This site is not all that large for community retail," said Paul Bilotta, president and senior planner at Bonestroo.

Comment: City of Plymouth Four Seasons Mall study available here

Moratorium on Wal-Mart / Four Seasons development

Plymouth council enacts moratorium on Four Seasons Mall site

Excerpt:

A new moratorium in Plymouth would block a Wal-Mart or any other development at the Four Seasons Mall for up to a year.


The council accepted a $100,000 grant from the Metropolitan Council to study the Four Seasons Mall site and approved an interim ordinance temporarily prohibiting development on the site during a Dec. 14 meeting. The moratorium is intended to protect the planning process, Community Development Director Steve Juetten said.

Earlier in the meeting, opponents of a Wal-Mart filled the council chambers as Plymouth resident Ray Mowery presented hundreds of signatures on a petition against the store.

Wal-Mart has not completed an application to build a store on the site but did pay for a city study regarding the impacts of a Wal-Mart store on traffic. The Arkansas-based retailer closed on purchasing the site earlier this month.

Comment: I favor development of this site.

Wal-Mart buys Four Seasons Mall

Wal-Mart buys Four Seasons Mall in Plymouth

Excerpts:

Wal-Mart now owns the Four Seasons Mall in Plymouth.


The retail giant closed on the property located near Rockford Road and Highway 169 Nov. 30, according to Lisa Nelson, a senior manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart.

“We would like to develop the property and we look forward to working with the community in developing the property to meet the community's needs,” Nelson said.

Wal-Mart has not submitted an application, said Plymouth Community Development Director Steve Juetten. However, the company paid for a city traffic study that considered the impact of an approximately 148,500-square-foot Wal-Mart store on the site.

...

Nelson shed some light on what the company is considering and confirmed the size of nearly 150,000 square feet.

“It will be a full-service Wal-Mart store that provides grocery, pharmacy and all the components customers have come to expect in a Wal-Mart,” she said. “It's a chance to invest in jobs and growth opportunities to help revitalize an area that is somewhat distressed.”

Nelson said she did not know if her company is allowing tenants of the Four Seasons Mall to remain at the location while Wal-Mart works on planning for a new store.

A Plymouth Wal-Mart would have more in common with a new store in Bloomington than an older store in Brooklyn Park, she said. The company would use sustainable building techniques, and the store could include a mix of organic products, better flooring and a nicer exterior than Plymouth residents may expect, Nelson said.

“There's a lot of pride in Plymouth, and we want to be part of that,” she said.

The retailer is willing to work with the city and the neighborhood on a plan, Nelson said.

“In terms of traffic, in terms of community impact, I think the city is going to be very pleasantly surprised with how attentive we are to the needs of the community and developing the property in a way that's consistent with their needs and goals as well,” she said.

Comment: See earlier blog posting from October. Kathee and I (both Plymouth residents) favor this development.

Wal-Mart in Brookdale deal

Wal-Mart jumps in to salvage Brookdale site

Excerpt:

Wal-Mart developer Gatlin Development Co. confirmed Friday that it plans to buy the all-but-empty Brookdale site, ending years of hand-wringing about the failed Brooklyn Center mall with a bang. Terms of the purchase agreement, expected to be signed next week, aren't being disclosed. The 64-acre mall has been on the market for $17.5 million.

Wal-Mart will anchor a large new retail development targeted to open by mid-2014, with a 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Super Center that will include a grocery store, Gatlin's president, Loren Van Der Slik, said in an interview Friday. The developer will tear down most of what's there, and build or redevelop an additional 435,000 square feet of leasable retail space, he said.

It will salvage the newer food-court wing of the existing mall, which will be converted to shops in a climate-controlled indoor area, he said.

Gatlin is buying the Macy's store at the site in a separate deal that hasn't closed yet, he said, and plans to tear it down. The existing Sears store will stay and isn't part of either transaction.

Shingle Creek, a brook that runs through the property, will get a makeover. Plans call for excavating the creek from beneath the parking lot where it currently runs, giving it daylight and creating a green creekscape and bike path to connect with one that runs along Bass Lake Road.

The proposed name for the new development: Shingle Creek Crossing.

"It's going to be a great change," Van Der Slik said.

The mall's current owner, a group led by Capmark Financial Group Inc. in Horsham, Pa., couldn't be reached Friday. The group took the ailing mall back in a sheriff's foreclosure auction earlier this year. The previous owner owed about $52 million on the $54 million loan. Capmark itself is struggling through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Comment: Tobin ... thanks for your comment on yesterday's Four Seasons Mall post. I'm not sure if the UPS driver had the information correct or not (re Four Seasons). I am trying to confirm. Back in May I noted another plan for Brookdale!

Walmart moving into Four Seasons Mall?

Comment: I heard today from our UPS driver that Walmart has purchasing (or had) the Four Seasons Mall. I am unable to confirm this but if so it would be a great location for a Walmart!

More on: Four Seasons Mall: Plymouth, MN

Info on the property from Hennepin County