urbanMSP

Are they going to open this in phases or all at once?

I haven't heard for sure but i believe its suppose to open pretty much all at once in August 2014.

So I'm still assuming that the Saks Off 5th downtown will close when this one opens?

I hate the name of this place: "Twin Cities at Eagan". What does that even mean?

That's the name?! I thought it was "Paragon Outlets" or something. Even "Cedar Grove Outlets" makes a ton more sense than
The Twin Cities at Eagan! Of all of the bad/wierd names that have been thrown around lately, this may very well take the cake:

Twin Cities at Eagan
Lime
Dwell
7west
WaHu
The Three Nine Four
The Natural
ElseWarehouse (I kinda like this one but I know others don't)
Nic of Fifth

Yeah, it's a silly name that doesn't make any sense. How can the Twin Cities be "at" Eagan when Eagan is a part of the Twin Cities?

On a related note, an apartment developer now wants to build a high end apartment complex next door to it as well. I'm a bit skeptical of that -- I can see less expensive apartments doing alright, but whether or not this succeeds is going to depend a lot on its affordability.

Two things on this one:

At least they are designing the layout correctly. Whoever designed the layout of the west half of the Albertville Outlet wasn't very bright.

Timberland better open up a factory store here!

Looks like the east end apartment complex is happening. Eagan is approving the sale of the property later today. According to the notice it's called "The Flats at Cedar Grove"

http://finance-commerce.com/2013/06/eag ... evelopers/

Looks like those are auto-centric apartments. I guess it makes sense in Eagan, but it's a shame we're not seeing ground-floor units with entries or even a building that's not set back so much from the stroad.

Oh and don't forget, a bigger parking lot for Jensen's too!

I think it looks quite nice. It definitely looks a lot better than what I was expecting. It wasn't 5 years ago that I thought this whole area would be dead forever, so seeing this is awesome news. The street access could have been better but I think they're emulating the building across the street. You can't make the surrounding buildings look too ugly.

Eh, I guess you have to start somewhere. First comes density, then comes traffic calming, transit use, and auto-weaning, and eventually you have something resembling an urban environment. In places like Eagan, you've got to take progress where you can get it.

Yeah, that part of town is car-dependent as it is (the transit station nearby notwithstanding), so any development is going to reflect that, at least for now.

It's good to see the area finally taking shape. That said, I'm still skeptical that there is demand for high-end apartments in the area (I live less than a mile away, so I'm pretty familiar with it). There are studios 2-3 blocks from the site that rent for $700 or less -- nowhere near as nice as these will be, I'm sure, but I don't think that many people who are willing to spend what these apartments will likely go for will want to live in Eagan next to an outlet mall.

I hope I'm wrong, and I'm assuming the developer has done their homework about demand and pricing, but I really have my doubts.

http://www.startribune.com/business/226235411.html

More than a dozen of Paragon’s retail outlets are exclusive in Minnesota, including Cole Haan and White House/Black Market.

Most of those stores aren't very unique or high end....I'm a bit surprised since I thought this outlet mall was supposed to cater to high-end retail.

^ We are talking about Minnesota, and an outlet mall located in the south of the river suburbs...

I don't think Minnesota really does high-end retail compared to some places. The developers may want it, but that doesn't mean they'll get it, and in the end they have to go with who signs on if they want to fill up the space. Though I'd say a few of the stores they've named would qualify. And there are still many spaces left, so they may pick up a few more.

Looks like the company that manages the St. Paul Hotel wants to build a hotel here as well:

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... -mall.html

Is there still a hotel planned for this area (mentioned above in the link) and i thought i read something about apartments as well? Does anyone know the plans on either?

Anyways this will open August 14th. http://www.startribune.com/blogs/256536961.html

The hotel was just approved by the Eagan City Council. Here are links to the media story and the plans: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... utlet-mall http://eagan.granicus.com/MetaViewer.ph ... a_id=49986

The developer broke ground last month on the apartment building. Here are links to the media story and the plans: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/b ... eagan.html http://www.cityofeagan.com/images/Admin ... ness_A.pdf