Author: Mark Weber

A Hennepin County District Court judge has ruled that a civil lawsuit seeking to block the development of homes near the historic Fredrick-Miller Spring can proceed to trial. The lawsuit against the City of Eden Prairie, filed by the Eden Prairie-based nonprofit called Spring Valley Friends, claims the proposed housing development called Noble Hill on land overlooking the spring and Riley Creek poses a threat to public waters and wildlife habitat. Judge Edward Wahl on July 13 ordered the trial to proceed. An Aug. 22 hearing in Fourth District Court has been scheduled. The 50-home development proposed by Pulte Homes…

They hailed it in 1970 as a “New Town” planned community, a $200 million development that would eventually put 15,000 additional residents in Eden Prairie amid a unique blend of housing, shopping, and natural areas. The Preserve neighborhood didn’t turn out exactly as planned. And yet, as the homeowners association that has paralleled it turns 50 years old this week, it’s clear that The Preserve of southeastern Eden Prairie is still unique in a lot of ways. At nearly 1,700 homes instead of the original vision of 4,400, it’s still among Eden Prairie’s biggest neighborhoods. Its mix of housing –…

The City of Eden Prairie is in the early stages of considering whether and how to regulate THC edibles and THC beverages, and plans to meet soon with other municipalities and the League of Minnesota Cities on the topic. “Most cities will likely get involved in the licensing aspect of it,” Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case predicted Monday. “Beyond that, I don’t know.” “I think this is one of those instances where we would not want to be standing out differently than our neighbors,” he added. Indeed, he said a meeting with the League and a number of other cities…

Ryan Companies has proposed to build a five-story, 211-unit apartment building northwest of the intersection of Valley View and Topview roads, which is about a block east of Home Depot and across Valley View from the Holiday Stationstore. It’s the third apartment project reviewed by the City of Eden Prairie over the last seven months. The 425-unit Blue Stem North, near an under-construction light-rail-transit station in northeastern Eden Prairie, was approved by the city in March. A 239-unit project called The Ellie was approved for construction north of Smith Coffee & Café in December. The undeveloped property eyed by Ryan…

SouthWest Transit will hit the reset button on its search for a new chief executive officer after a recent search process failed to yield an accepted job offer. The SouthWest Transit Commission that oversees the Eden Prairie-based transit service decided last week to hit pause and is expected to hire another search firm, said Matt Fyten, the organization’s chief operating officer and interim CEO. To help with the ongoing transition, the commission will also consider extending the advisory role of outgoing CEO Len Simich when it meets June 23, added Fyten. Simich is retiring after leading the public transit agency…

Eden Prairie Parks Director Jay Lotthammer has been saddled with finding a home for the legendary Flying Red Horse, and, though it’s hard to believe, it is not the first “forever home” he’s had to find for a horse. It’s actually the third. When he was Brooklyn Park’s director of parks and recreation, a resident donated two live draft horses to the city, and Lotthammer arranged to have them board at that city’s living-history farm. There will be a lot less hay involved in situating the Flying Red Horse, the Mobil sign that for 70-plus years served as an Eden…

A five- to eight-year project to transform more of Eden Prairie into what it looked like hundreds if not thousands of years ago is taking root just a few yards from Flying Cloud Airport. When the work by Hennepin County in concert with the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) is complete, a parcel of just over two acres will look a lot like the 126 acres nearby: remnant prairie, never cultivated for crops or even turned over with a plow. And, when the combined acreage is a sea of native grasses and wildflowers, Eden Prairie will be home to one of…

An Eden Prairie property that has been the subject of several development proposals had a new plan approved for it Tuesday, May 17, by the Eden Prairie City Council. Given preliminary approval for a parcel at 9360 Hennepin Town Road in southeastern Eden Prairie was a Hampton Companies plan to build a 32-unit facility that would provide assisted living and memory care to ailing older adults. Last year, the city approved a project at this location called Morimoto City Homes, which was 16 owner-occupied townhomes. Before that, a plan for a three-story, 52-unit apartment building called The Lofts at Anderson…

About 1 in 8 Eden Prairie businesses, or 12 percent, will not return to the way they did business before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey of local businesses has found. Those who say they will operate differently are primarily in the sales/marketing and service categories of business, according to Peter Leatherman of the Morris Leatherman Company, a Minneapolis firm that the City of Eden Prairie uses to conduct a “statistically significant” survey of Eden Prairie businesses every 3-4 years. “This is the key question everyone wants to know: Are we going back to normal with how businesses are operated?”…

Plans to build a 32-unit facility providing assisted living and memory care to ailing older adults cleared a hurdle Monday, April 25, by gaining unanimous approval from the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. The development project now advances to city council review. The proposal by Hampton Companies, using the name Suite Living of Eden Prairie, calls for 20 assisted-living units and 12 memory-care units in a residential-style building at 9360 Hennepin Town Road in southeastern Eden Prairie. That 2.85-acre property has been the subject of several development plans that never reached fruition, the most recent being a project called Morimoto City…