Council Members Give OK to Exploring McGarvey Coffee Development

While they did not take any formal action, the St. Louis Park City Council gave city staff their blessing to proceed with discussions regarding the redevelopment of the former McGarvey Coffee site.

The plant, which was closed down by Sara Lee approximately one year ago, is located at 5707 Highway 7. A 27,000-square-foot building remains on the 4.4-acre tract of land, though developer Main Street Companies purchased it back in August of 2012.

Main Street Companies Owner Don Kasbohm appeared before the City Council during a study session Monday night, explaining his plans for the property—as well as his hopes for an adjacent piece of land presently owned by the City of St. Louis Park.

"A mentor of mine pounded in to me that if you ever see anything two blocks off a LRT stop in a good city, go buy the land and put housing on it," Kasbohm said. "I really like this site and I think we can provide a sustainable project."

Kasbohm said the residential units would be lower in cost than comparable units, with hopes of providing the "best value" for new housing in St. Louis Park. His goal is to draw in an older residents than most apartment buildings see. 

"I expect more active middle-aged-and-up people, instead of what everyone else is marketing to right now," Kasbohm said. "Long-term turnover should be less if I can build a building that's more attractive to active adults."

The plans would bring a four-story building consisting of 103 units and underground parking to the former McGarvey site, with plans to take advantage of the parcel's proximity to the Southwest Bike Trail.

A small mixed-use building—with 8,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and three floors of apartments above it—would also be constructed on the adjacent property at 5925 Highway 7, which is the plot of land currently owned by the city.

The two projects would be known as Greenway Depot, as proposed.

Council Member Susan Sanger said she would rather hold off entirely on the project until traffic issues on Wooddale Avenue have been addressed. 

"I'm not sure anything should be constructed of any kind until we figure out the traffic," Sanger said.

Mayor Jeff Jacobs said it's certainly important to figure out the "problem child" that is Wooddale, but said it see increased traffic regardless of whether it is zoned for residential, commercial or industrial use.

"At some point something needs to get built there," Jacobs said. "The idea of doing residential there makes sense to me."

With the Council's go-ahead, the developers are now tasked with further refining its redevelopment concepts, followed by applying for a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning and a planned unit development. A traffic study will also need to be conducted before any formal consideration of any of those actions.

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