Redevelopment of Brookdale Center and The Surrounding Area
Multiple redevelopment plans for the failed mall were suggested and attempted.
Then, on October 15, 2010, plans were announced by Gatlin Development Co. Inc., a Tennessee based firm, to acquire the Brookdale Shopping Center and in conjunction with the city of Brooklyn Center to transform the mostly-vacant mall into a new shopping center anchored by a Walmart Supercenter. The announcement included the following plans:
- Rename the center "Shingle Creek Crossing"
- Tear down most of the existing structure, but leave the recently constructed food court in place
- Build a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) Wal-Mart Supercenter which would include a grocery store
- Build or redevelop an additional 435,000 square feet (40,400 m2) of leasable retail space
- Add eight restaurant pad sites and two multiple-tenant retail or service buildings.
- Create a green creekscape by resurrecting and excavation Shingle Creek, a stream that was buried in a subterranean culvert under the parking lot when the center was first constructed in the 1960s.
The "Shingle Creek Crossing" announcement came as the city of Brooklyn Center was finishing a Bass Lake Road two million dollar re-landscaping project funded by federal stimulus money. The Bass Lake Road project was part of an overall plan to revitalize and renew the city. As the landscape project was underway, an Embassy Suites hotel opened nearby and ground was broken on a new Federal Bureau of Investigation office complex to the north of Brookdale Center across Interstate I-94. The Three Rivers Park District, operated by Hennepin County, also expressed interest in closing small gaps between trail systems in the area, a move aimed at increasing recreational traffic. The plans for new trails included a stretch next to Shingle Creek with the proposed excavation.
In an interview with the Star Tribune, Steven Lillehaug, Brooklyn Center's director of public works said, "We want to do everything we can on the city's end to help revitalize this area and to put this infrastructure in place to make this a real, ideal location for businesses to come and make their home."
Read more about this topic: Brookdale Center
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