HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 04-03 A much-needed infusion for a Maplewood mall STAR TRIBUNE4/7/2016
A much-needed infusion for a Maplewood mall - StarTribune.com
BUSINESS
A much-needed infusion for a
Maplewood mall
Plaza 3000 owner Azure Properties has landed Hobby Lobby, a big
win for a mall that's languished for years.
By Don Jacobson Special to the Star Tribune APRIL 3, 2014 — 2:28PM
The biggest retail lease transition of 2013's fourth quarter wasn't at a trendy lifestyle
center like the Shops at West End or a mega -shopping destination such as the Mall of
America.
Rather, it was at a largely vacant, 1970s -style neighborhood mall in Maplewood, whose
fortunes are being transformed with the landing of a new, 48,000 -square -foot Hobby
Lobby store.
The Plaza 3000 Center at 3000 White Bear Av. opened in 1975, shortly after the
completion of Maplewood Mall across the street. Its owner, Little Canada -based Azure
Properties, has seen its fortunes ebb and flow with the ever-changing patterns of local
retailers and small-scale chains.
The 111,810 -square -foot shopping center started life as a grocery -anchored neighborhood
mall, and is probably best known as the former longtime home of Larkin Dance Studio,
which was its anchor tenant for 35 years before moving to a new quarters elsewhere in
Maplewood.
It currently houses an Old Country Buffet restaurant, a Petco pet supply store and other
tenants, such as Party City, Regency Beauty Institute, Salon to Shay and Allstate
Insurance.
The most noticeable thing about the center nowadays, however, is its big vacant spaces
and largely empty parking lot. Its idle space includes a large chunk just vacated in March
by the value retailer Tuesday Morning. Some spaces in the mall have been vacant for as
long as three years.
The center also must contend with a wide interior pedestrian hallway. Such hallways
were commonly built as amenities in 70s -era centers as a way to battle the Minnesota
climate. Now they are considered little more than unproductive space, and only a few
remain in existence.
But with the coming of Hobby Lobby, Plaza 3000's vacancy rate will plunge from 41
percent to just 2 percent, said Anita Johnson, who along with Lisa Christianson of
Christianson & Co. Commercial Real Estate Services represented Azure Properties in the
transaction.
Johnson said the deal came together two years after she reached out to the 600 -store,
Oklahoma City -based arts and crafts retailer, which is planning to open up to 15
locations in the Twin Cities. Its first metro -area store debuted in February in a 50,000 -
square -foot former Sportsman's Warehouse space in Woodbury.
"In June, I got a call from [retail broker] Bob Minks [of Colliers International], who was
handling the Hobby Lobby account," she said. "He said they were interested in coming to
Maplewood."
What followed was a series of negotiations over the lease rates and how to pull off the
biggest transformation in the neighborhood mall's history, essentially converting a big
part of it from multitenant to single -tenant space.
Johnson said the amount Hobby Lobby ultimately signed for remains confidential, but
added that the changes made to the mall will be profound, including eliminating much
of the troublesome interior hallway, boosting rentable space by nearly 10,000 square
feet.
Tom Schuette, Plaza 3000's longtime property manager, said Azure Properties is kicking
in a significant amount of "replacement power" to land the big deal, including walling off
the new space from the rest of the mall and construction of a new entrance.
(http://stmedia.startdbune.com/images/ows_l396553303843i
RICHARD SENNOTT •
RICHARD.SENNOTT(-STARTRIBUNE.CCM
Anita Johnson of Christianson & Co. and Tom
Schuette of Azure Properties, near the site of a
future home to a large Hobby Lobby store.
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4/7/2016
A much-needed infusion for a Maplewood mall - StarTribune.com
"The electrical service will be all new, and is extremely large," he said. "We have to build
a loading dock behind the building that they can back semitrailers up to. We will have to
reroute underground gas lines to do that."
Hobby Lobby, meanwhile, will be responsible for building out its own space.
"We're shooting for an Oct. 1 opening," Scheutte said, assuming the long winter freeze
abates soon enough to allow for underground utility work.
The pair said the deal shows that owners of long -vacant retail space in even the hardest -
to -fill malls can ultimately find takers in the current market if they occupy prime
locations and are willing to perform upgrades.
Don Jacobson is a St. Paul -based freelance writer and former editor of the Minnesota
Real Estate Journal.
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