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Heritage Commons still waiting for anchor store
Posted 8/4/00 by John Sucansky Though businesses are gradually moving into the Heritage Commons shopping center, the development is still without its anchor, which is a proposed large-scale grocery store. Approximately 28 1/2 acres remain undeveloped in the Heritage Commons project, located at the intersection of Dodd Boulevard and Highway 50 in Lakeville. According to the original proposal by the developer in 1998, the project was to begin with a large retail anchor and then smaller retail would follow. However, the process has seemed to have been reversed. The total size of the site is 34 acres, according to Frank Dempsey, Lakeville associate planner. He said that currently, 5 1/3 acres have been developed with the existing retail stores. There are 12 lots total in the development, and the existing buildings are constructed on two of the lots. The original plan that was approved Sept. 7, 1999, allowed for a 67,000 square-foot retail space for a grocery store on a 5.2-acre lot. According to the Decision Resource survey that was administered by the city, ìThis development will include a large supermarket scheduled to open in January of 2000 followed by retail shops and service businesses.î The survey also revealed that only 4 percent of Lakevilleís 40,000 residents shop in the city of Lakeville. Approximately 50 percent of Lakeville residents shop in Apple Valley, and 21 percent shop in Burnsville, according to the survey. Bob Erickson, Lakeville city administrator, said that the developer, Luigi Bernardi, has had almost every grocery chain in the Twin Cities look at the property. Erickson said that the developer and the city have both been approached by Kowalskiís, Lunds, Rainbow, Cub Foods and Enggrenís Market. He said that the developer speaks with prospective grocery stores and tells them what his property has to offer, and then the stores ask the city of Lakeville for the demographics of the area. Erickson said that the next step is for the grocery stores to conduct market surveys. The surveys are conducted by companies that the stores hire for this purpose. According to Erickson, all of the stores that were interested in Heritage Commons reported that their market studies showed Lakeville will not be ready for a big box grocery store in the Heritage Commons area for at least one to three years. ìFrom their studies, it is premature at this location,î said Erickson. According to Erickson, 68 percent of Lakevilleís population lives north of 185th Street and itís more convenient for them to shop in Burnsville and Apple Valley. Erickson also said that grocery stores are in a state of flux right now. Rainbow is currently for sale and the Internet is starting to be a competitor in the grocery industry, according to Erickson. All of these factors have occurred since the developer began to pursue a big box store for the Heritage Commons location, according to Erickson. He said that according to the Decision Resources survey, Lakeville residents were saying, ìYou build a big box grocery store in Heritage Commons, and we will use it.î The survey showed that 28 percent were very likely to shop at a Heritage Commons supermarket, and 43 percent were somewhat likely to shop at a Heritage Commons supermarket. However, Erickson said that currently there is not enough population immediately adjacent to Heritage Commons. With the recent expiration of the moratorium on development in Lakeville, approximately 15 applications for developments have come into the city, according to Erickson. He said the applications will be for approximately 1,200 lots, with the vast majority going into southern Lakeville around Heritage Commons. Erickson said that, to date, Bernardi has kept his promise to develop a quality center. Meanwhile, the city is providing the necessary infrastructure to revitalize its downtown. Dodd Boulevard is being widened to a four-lane urban highway, and Ipava Avenue is being aligned to connect northern Lakeville residents with the historic downtown and Heritage Commons area. Erickson said the most frequently asked question of the city is, ìWhen are we getting a big box grocery store?î According to Bernardi, the development has finished stage one, which is the construction of smaller retail bays. There are two bays left to lease in stage one. Bernardi said he is currently waiting on the sale of Rainbow Foods, but he has been pursuing Rainbow since 1998. He has also pursued Lunds and Cub Foods since the beginning. Bernardi said Cub Foods wanted to focus on expanding and remodeling Enggrenís Super Valu in downtown Lakeville. Bernardi said that although there is no time table for developing a grocery store, it will definitely not happen this year. However, next year is the goal, he said. Bernardi said he is now working with a regional post office to develop a 30,000 square-foot building at Heritage Commons. The entire Heritage Commons development will encompass 220,000 square feet when it is completed. The next stage ó attracting and developing a grocery store ó should be fairly easy, according to Bernardi, because the zoning is complete. ìThe worst is over,î he said. Some existing businesses in Heritage Commons are struggling because they thought they would have traffic coming through with the development of a grocery store. ìOf course it (a grocery store) would help. It could save our business by giving us the traffic we need,î said Hal Bass, owner of Life Partners fitness center. Bass said his members ìare dyingî for a grocery store and that they are tired of spending money in Apple Valley. According to Darlena Duong, the manager of 5 Star Nails, her store has been in operation for only seven weeks, but opened with the assumption that one day there will be a grocery store to bring in more traffic. She said business is good, but hopefully there will be more when the area is completely developed. She said that she would be disappointed if there was no grocery store. Scott Nelson, the owner of Lakeville Athletics, said that his business falls into a specialty niche and that a grocery store in the area would provide extra traffic and business during sales, but it would not be the ìbread and butter of his income.î However, a grocery store was the assumption of how this development would create itself. Nelson said in response of Cub Foodsí proposal to move into Rosemount, ìIf theyíre thinking of Rosemount, they have to be ludicrous for not looking here first.î Wayne Bostel, the owner of PC Pointers, hopes to have more traffic in the area, but he didnít base coming to the Heritage Commons location on what would happen with a grocer moving into the area. Bass said he doesnít want to see customers shopping outside the community, because then Lakeville would be just a bedroom community. Bass said that he chose Heritage Commons for his gym because of the promises that were made about a grocery store as an anchor store. Currently, Bassí business is at 50 percent of where it needs to be in profits to break even, he said. ìIíve spent $11,000 in print advertising and half the town doesnít know weíre here,î he said. He said that the long-term success of his club and the other businesses is very reliant on stores being built in the vacant lot next to him. According to Rita Simmer, of the media relations department for Super Valu, her company has no comment at this time about pursuing locations in Lakeville or Rosemount. According to Pat Liska, the president of Rainbow Foods, his company is currently involved with their sale and cannot comment on future locations for stores. Bass said that he is not blaming anybody, but the need is here for a big box grocery store. ìIf I had a dollar for every time a member of my club asked, ëWhen is it (grocery store) going to be built?í I would be well ahead on my bills,î he said. Erickson said that the city has a 20-page guideline for the construction of future retail in Heritage Commons. According to Dempsey, the guidelines stress a Jeffersonian architectural theme that the city has incorporated into all of its municipal buildings. The goal, according to Dempsey, is to tie all the buildings together into the downtown look. One of the guidelines for construction in Heritage Commons includes the use of the same brick found at City Hall. This is to keep the historic downtown look in any future developments. Erickson said the city has nothing to say, however, about the operating hours of a prospective grocery store. Bass said that he believes any grocery store development would still have to a be a couple of years away from being a completed project. ìI donít know how much longer we can hold out, but itís very tense,î said Bass.
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