Walmart buying Brookdale (Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center: 2014, lease, live in)

[moving123456]

It will be interesting to see if this development does well or ends up empty like Brookdale a few years after opening.

Originally Posted by Star Tribune

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.

More here.....

Wal-Mart jumps in to salvage Brookdale site | StarTribune.com

[MplsTodd]

One correction: Wal-Mart is NOT buying the center. They will lease space in the center.

I would think a Wal-Mart anchored center would be well-suited for that area. Having Sears, Kohls and Wal-Mart, not to mention the nearby Cub Foods, provides some strong anchors for a proposed retail center.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

It feels weird saying this, but the addition of a Walmart may be the best option to help revive the shopping center.

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by Slig

It feels weird saying this, but the addition of a Walmart may be the best option to help revive the shopping center.

It worked at Apache Plaza, sorta. I guess. I wouldn't know, I've never been there since the old place was bulldozed.

[Camden Northsider]

Yeah, my first reaction was "well, that kind of sucks", but it will be a big economic developer/lot of new jobs for the area which is good (and needed- even if they aren't the greatest jobs). Plus if they're planning on redeveloping the entire space, it will definitely improve the whole giant 64-acre-eyesore problem right now. I was hoping for a more out-of-the-box total re-development solution (where it becomes something other than a mall/retail area), which is probably not too feasible in this economy.

The fact of the matter is that a Wal-Mart will draw a lot of people from B.C. and surrounding areas (not just immediately surrounding ones) as, if you live in the city or inner western suburbs, the other nearest Wal-Marts feel pretty removed (regardless of how close they are geographically to the proposed B.C. one- the Silver Lake Mpls and Brooklyn Park W-M locations seem farther than they're worth it to me, and traffic can suck from Mpls to Bloomington...but I'm not a W-M shopper). Plus with the ongoing Target boycotts, maybe the urban-dwelling boycotting demographic will start to look at Wal-Mart in a new light?

[moving123456]

This part sounds good.....

Originally Posted by Star Tribune

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.

[Kebinminn]

I'm glad. Wished it were a more upscale place but frankly it's better than what's there now. For the suburb to come back that place needed go.

[City eYes]

bittersweet.

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by audadvnc

It worked at Apache Plaza, sorta. I guess. I wouldn't know, I've never been there since the old place was bulldozed.

I've been there a few times and I see activity around there so that is probably good. The Wal-Mart is not 24/7. I believe it closes at 10pm which is frustrating. It seems like only the distant suburbs get the 24/7 Wal-Marts.

The Cub Foods in that area has been useful too. There are numerous restaurants there but it's all chain fast food. It doesn't seem like the quazi-urban stores generate that much activity. I haven't been over there lately to see if all the store fronts are filled.

[Globe199]

This is hardly a surprise. Walmart was circling over Brookdale like a giant vulture. You just knew that Walmart would eventually find a way to weasel their way in. So, so predictable.