“I think number one it means a lot for the residents of that area,” said Blaine Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer. “We probably have gotten more calls from residents about that project than just about any project that I can remember in the last 10 or 15 years so I know their is a very high interest. Their is no grocery store in that neighborhood so I think that number one fills a huge need.” The former grocery store at Oak Park Plaza went out of business about 10 years ago. Then came the recession with no retail development. After the recession the property owner and the city had conversations about a few different redevelopment plans but nothing came to fruition until Cub changed the way that they do business. “Five years ago Cub didn’t have a neighborhood store like this so it took Cub reinventing what they do. This is about half the square footage of a typical Cub store,” said Schafer. The demolition of the unoccupied end of the center will take about four to six weeks and then the construction on the new Cub will begin. At the same time the rest of the center will receive a face lift. “The whole center when they are done will look new. Redo the parking lots, the landscaping, make some storm water improvements, new lighting, new signage, new everything basically as a full makeover of the site,” said Schafer. This project will clean up one of the main entrance points into the city. “It is a fairly visible corner, the corner of 109th and University Ave. people transition from Coon Rapids to Blaine and the center looked tired, that was clear. It was not very well occupied so I think it’s a huge shot in the arm for that part of the community, for the University Ave. corridor,” said Schafer. Also in this area a new townhome development will soon be underway and the city council has plans to continue the revitalization of University Ave. all the way to Northtown. “Then we’ll move on to the next one and see how that looks,” said Schafer.
Oak Park Plaza Redesign
BLAINE, Minn. – (March 24, 2016) – The redevelopment of Oak Park Plaza has been needed a long time and will be completed by the end of the year.
