Author: Mark Weber

There’s a newly married couple in town – malted barley and coffee beans – and the proud parents are Eden Prairie businesses: Fat Pants Brewing and Smith Coffee & Café. Fat Pants and Smith Coffee have collaborated to create a new, coffee-flavored stout beer called Smithereen, a playful use of the Smith name, which comes from the 1877 Smith-Douglas-More house that is home to Smith Coffee & Café. It’s the coming together of two locally-owned businesses and two longtime Eden Prairie families. Don Anderson of the Anderson family that owns and operates Fat Pants has lived in Eden Prairie since…

Police Det. Carter Staaf is breaking the ice with the boy tagging along at his side as they walk through Eden Prairie Shopping Center. “What’s your favorite subject in school?” he asks. “Play any sports?” adds Staaf. It’s a getting-to-know-you moment as the two participate in the Holiday with Heroes program Saturday, Dec. 4, at the mall. Police officers and firefighters from Eden Prairie departments have been paired with 13 children, ages 7-11, who were recommended for the program by a local nonprofit. On this Saturday morning the kids will “shop with a cop,” you might say, although this year…

A 239-unit apartment project north of Smith Coffee & Café along Eden Prairie Road is among the items on the Eden Prairie City Council’s agenda for Tuesday, Dec. 7. The project, called The Ellie, is proposed by United Properties and was recommended for approval Nov. 8 by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission, on an 8-1 vote. The apartment complex on Lincoln Lane would replace seven older, single-family homes. Also on the city council’s agenda Dec. 7 are plans to demolish the western-most, 117,000-square-foot building on the Lifetouch/Shutterfly campus at 11000 Viking Drive, and leave the area as green space. For…

The SouthWest Transit Commission announced in a news release this week that its longtime chief executive officer, Len Simich, will retire by the end of the first quarter 2022. Simich had informed the commission of his retirement plans last spring, and in October the commission contracted with the national placement firm KL2 Connects to begin the search for Simich’s replacement. SouthWest Transit is the public transit agency for Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Chaska, and Carver, and Simich has been at its helm since 1997. During his tenure, he helped grow the agency’s ridership by more than 400 percent, built four structured…

Remodeling of the Eden Prairie Senior Center’s upper level is among the items on the Eden Prairie City Council’s meeting agenda for Tuesday, Nov. 16. The proposed remodeling will create more open, usable space in the upper level of the Senior Center at 8950 Eden Prairie Road, which once served as city hall and was carved into multiple offices and rooms. It will also improve the front-desk area of the center, which is seeing increased usage. City staff is recommending approval of a contractor’s base bid of $89,867 plus an allowance of up to $14,040 for a stone fireplace they…

Plans to build another large apartment complex along Eden Prairie Road near Smith Coffee & Café cleared a hurdle Monday, Nov. 8, with approval from the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. Next is a review by the Eden Prairie City Council. Endorsed 8-1 on Monday was a United Properties plan to build a 239-unit apartment complex on Lincoln Lane, replacing seven older single-family homes there. The four-story building immediately north of Smith Coffee & Café would be called The Ellie after Elizabeth Fries Ellet, the East Coast writer credited with giving Eden Prairie its name after visiting the area and calling…

Rarely is a prominent office building demolished to create green space, but that’s exactly what is planned for a portion of the Shutterfly campus, formerly Lifetouch, along Interstate Highway 494 in Eden Prairie. Shutterfly is proposing to demolish the western-most building of its two-building campus north of I-494, along Viking Drive, and leave the area open and green for its employees to enjoy. It’s an idea that requires city approval, and was unanimously endorsed Monday, Nov. 8, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. The proposal now heads to the city council. Architect Terry Helland, speaking on behalf of Shutterfly, said…

A system of driverless cars that help get Eden Prairie workers from transit stations to their companies’ front doors, and back again, might be 5-10 years away. But, SouthWest Transit and City of Eden Prairie officials are working now to make sure EP is first in line when it’s time for a federal- and state-funded pilot project. They are encouraged by the possibility that they have the perfect proving grounds: The “Golden Triangle” area of northeastern Eden Prairie, bounded by Highway 169 on the east, Highway 212 on the west, and Interstate 494 on the south. It’s home to nearly…

Plans for a 40,000-square-foot grocery store whose owner is being kept secret were unanimously approved Tuesday, Oct. 27, by the Eden Prairie City Council. While the schematic drawings for what’s being called “Flying Cloud Commons Grocery Store” show a building façade similar to those used for new Amazon Fresh grocery stores across the country, the developer on Tuesday said a non-disclosure agreement prevented him from identifying the tenant. Toronto-based NORR, listed as architect for the Eden Prairie project, has been linked to other Amazon Fresh projects nationwide. But the store’s name is being withheld – even to city officials, at…

Book lovers, computer users, and others who use the Eden Prairie Library will get an additional 20 hours a week to access library services beginning Oct. 24. The expanded schedule of open hours means additional access most evenings and on Friday when the Eden Prairie Library is currently closed. With the new schedule, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays instead of closing at 5 p.m. The new Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Unchanged are hours for Saturdays, 9-to-5, and Sundays, noon-to-5. The expanded hours extend to…