2007.08.20 EDA Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Real rye ___-__ _ PROJECT SHOWCASE A Special Advertising Section of Finance and Commerce Real Estate Thursday,Saluting Minnesota's Top Real Estate Projects Mound calls on its past to shape its future The train pulls into the depot of this village known as Mound-named for its collection of Native American burial knolls and known for its family resorts and the best fishing on renowned lake Minnetonka. Eager passengers step onto the platform r " into a different world from the one they left in down- 141r town Minneapolis. Visitors pick up a few essentials at l the grocer,walk to the pier and board a small steamer -� waiting to carry them to cabins and resorts. K "a 4r"'r• That was the scene in downtown Mound during Lake Minnetonka's thriving resort era in the 1910s and'2Os. _ While the resorts are gone,replaced by homes,the scene is being rebuilt In a monumental effort of publiclprivate partnerships totaling more than$200 million of reinvest- ment and years of work,downtown Mound is once again becoming a destination. 1 The effort is called Mound Visions and the vision grew out of need. Despite its rich history,Mound's downtown had fallen on hard times by the mid-1980x. The resort I+� em abruptly ended long ago with Black Tuesday. More recently,shopping patterns had changed to the detriment �i of places like Mound. Famed Tonka Toys was sold and "^^_•�' `i'�a '"�=`�' --^'-'' moved from its Mound birthplace to Mexico. And that t •+—.�.' canal from lake Minnetonka to the Mound depot?It Lafayette Hotel on Lake Minnetonka near the turn ofthe last Century. was all but forgotten-overgrown behind dumpsters,a gravel alley and piles of road salt. The community,however,desired a different fate. The city completed a strategic downtown plan in 1990 that,among other things,suggested an organized down- _ - town revitalization effort. That effort,soon known as Mound Visions,took root with the adoption of the downtown master plan in 1992. The master plan was aggressive,with the suggestion to essentially tear down the entire downtown and rebuild it with mixed-use buildings,reroute a county road,build a new main street, Engineering transit center and farmer's market,rehabilitate the canal to Lake Minnetonka and M F R APlanning build a public marina. The strategy was(and still is)to create extremely com- Environmental Services Palling public amenities and pedestrian spaces as a framework for private redevel- opment The city learned quickly that flipping Mound's tarnished image and attract- Surveying Frank Robs ing private investment would require bold moves and public"seed"investments in assaculet inn. Landscape Architecture key amenities like the canal and main street. At the time it was unveiled in 1992,the idea of building a traditional downtown was 14800 2&h Avenue Nath,Sule 140 (p)763.476.6010(t)763.476.853P sern1-radical Urban designer Bruce Chamberlain,vice president with Hoisington I{oegler Group,remembers a prominent area developer warning him that such an Plymouth.Mmnesola 55447 WMsile:www fmc»m E-mal:mlra@mha.can .............................................................................................................I.................. ................................................ PROJECT SHOWCASE ToPAGE 12 HIK M � .presents iMoundA, ;r - .• • has the s•• ni HKGt has the iniaginat r environmentThe everyone's and we make it our priority.EARTH TECH. Together, vision 0• r