Nothing ever looks good in real estate if you have a city (Rosemount) pull some eminent domain stunt that doesn’t pan out. I have to admit, I was getting worried that no tenant would ever fill in the bottom commercial space in Waterford Commons.
Until the other day I was driving by and realized they where putting some studs up and dividing up the some 7,000 plus square feet.
Currently the website doesn’t have anything listed as a possible tenant(s).
The end unit with the rounded corner appears to be some sort of restaurant but there is nothing on the outside of the building for advertising. The other end-unit has a VA loan banner on the front window.
There is definitely good street frontage and I’m surprised its stayed this vacant for so long after the luxury apartments are close to or already are fully 100% leased. On average 14,000 cars a day drive by Water Commons by way of South Robert Trail so the visibility is there day in day out.
The Other Redevelopment Area
There is also that other site in along South Robert Trail less than a block from Waterford Commons which is the former Genz Ryan building. Now that is a vacant eyesore. Now I’m all for redevelopment IF it makes sense. This would be one of them.
Last time I checked the purchase agreement that Kraus Anderson ran through April 30th of 2010 to get something done on it. There was plans but have since been nixed based on the current economic situation. Plans where for a senior living complex (since there are a few down the street in Evermoor that are struggling) and health clinic.
The city of applied for Met Council funds in the amount of $270k to demolish the building to make it more attractive for developers so they didn’t have to pay the money themselves. That has fallen through.
One of the biggest issues with the site is that it is so narrow. Someone would have to get creative with design and parking.
What’s Next
Hopefully the retail spaces in Waterford Commons has some long-term tenants that around for longer than a year like a lot of commercial real estate developments are seeing around the Twin Cities.
Then maybe it will sway the start of the other stalled redevelopment project.
About Jason Sandquist
