With the reconstruction of Robert Street starting, West St. Paul is looking into new businesses to line it.
The city is facilitating redevelopment for a parcel spanning just over 4 acres from the corner of Robert Street and Wentworth Avenue, but the project could displace at least one local mainstay.
City officials have signed a preliminary development agreement with Shorewood-based Venture Pass Partners to build along a stretch of Robert Street from a city-owned site of a former Blockbuster to the corner. The area also includes MAACO and AAMCO auto shops, a city-owned vacant lot, a Batteries Plus store and Granny Donuts.
Plans for the site are not set, but West St. Paul has approved a concept plan for a project dubbed "Town Center," which would include retail spaces in multiple buildings, a specialty grocery store and possibly a sit-down restaurant.
The city will sell the Blockbuster site to the developer, who will negotiate the sale of the other land, West St. Paul City Manager Matt Fulton said. Those "active discussions" are ongoing, said George Janssen of MarketPointe, who is brokering the purchases.
Granny Donuts owner Xuan To said he'd had one meeting about buying his land but hadn't received a concrete offer yet. To has run the shop with his wife, Que Banh, for 27 years. They have occasional help from their four children, but To said the couple still work 14-hour days, often arriving at the shop before 2 in the morning. Their pastries have attracted loyal customers from across the metro area, To said.
Fulton acknowledged some in the community will be sensitive about the project's potential effect on Granny Donuts. While negotiations are up to the developer, Fulton said the city is interested in balancing those concerns with needed redevelopment.
"There's still a very viable, successful business, and we're trying to work with the property owners to make sure we're not messing their business up, and on the other hand trying to [meet] the long-term development needs of the entire corner," he said.