Street names on Prince's former Chanhassen property allude to the late star

Street names proposed for a Chanhassen residential neighborhood to be built on property once owned by Prince will include references to the late superstar's songs and family.

Lennar Corp., which is developing the property, has proposed a plan with new streets named Dove Court, Raspberry Road and Alphabet Street.

The Purple One's hit songs include "When Doves Cry," which made No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; "Raspberry Beret" and, sure enough, "Alphabet St."

The development, which is being called The Park, will occupy part of a 188-acre tract along Galpin Boulevard north of Hwy. 5, where Prince once lived. He later had his house there razed.

Paisley Parkway is the proposed name for the entrance to the development. Prince owned nearby Paisley Park recording studios, his home where he died in 2016.

Other proposed names include Rogers Circle and Nelson Path, references to Prince Rogers Nelson's full name. Streets named Della and Lewis share the names of his parents, Mattie Della Baker and John Lewis Nelson.

In a 2018 purchase agreement with Lennar, Prince's heirs had requested that the development not include references to Prince.

"That was our interpretation of what they wanted or the direction they were given, that they didn't want a whole lot of connection with his name," said Joe Jablonski, Lennar's director of forward planning and entitlements. "But I guess that may have changed in their opinion over time."

In fact, Jablonski said, the proposed street names were among suggestions made by the heirs themselves.

Members of the City Council, which is scheduled to vote July 8 on Lennar's plans for the first phase of the development, will likely nix a couple of the names, City Manager Todd Gerhardt said.

Dove Court will probably be rejected because Chanhassen already has a street with that name.

And council members may decide that Paisley Parkway would create confusion for people who want to visit Paisley Park, which has been turned into a museum and is about a mile and a half away.

Katy Read • 612-673-4583