Construction of an office building that would be the Twin Cities corporate home of Nor-Son Construction and Nor-Son Custom Builders was endorsed Monday, Dec. 13, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. The 15,400-square-foot, two-story office building would be located on Market Place Drive but also have frontage on Interstate Highway 494. The company currently has offices in Wayzata and a headquarters in the Brainerd area. The straightforward project only drew debate from commission members on the subject of using metal on part of the exterior façade. Some members wanted the use of a higher-grade metal cladding that would be less…
Author: Mark Weber
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mark Weber
Mark joined the Eden Prairie News as a reporter in 1979, just five years after its start, and spent the next 34 years in various roles including editor and publisher, as well as general manager of the parent company, Southwest Newspapers. He also published Edible Twin Cities magazine. His encore career was serving the nonprofit Eden Prairie Community Foundation as executive director. Mark is now retired. He and his wife, Roma, have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law, as well as a grandson. They have lived in Eden Prairie since 1984. "I hope the many words I have typed over the years have helped people understand the world around them."
A proposal to build a 239-unit apartment complex along Eden Prairie Road north of Smith Coffee & Café was approved Tuesday, Dec. 7, by the Eden Prairie City Council, even as the council pledged to look at design changes that would make the building more attractive. Between now and the council’s final approval in January or February, the council wants city staff and the developer, United Properties, to reconsider the colors and building materials proposed for the 349,800-square-foot building to create “a new look,” as Council Member PG Narayanan put it. The current colors and building materials meet city code,…
The Eden Prairie City Council usually reviews plans for buildings that are going up. On Tuesday, Dec. 7, it looked at a proposal to take one down. The council OK’d plans by Shutterfly 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. The campus was built in 1997 by Lifetouch, which Shutterfly purchased in 2018. Lifetouch was a leader in school photography, and much of the building proposed to be demolished contains empty studio space that is no longer used. The targeted…
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…