New stores coming to Duluth, anyone know of any? (Maple Grove: safer, nicest)

[duluthian2008]

Target is still changing! I drove by today and now the outside of the store is being repainted a lighter color. It is now like a light beige. It looks great. Now the whole store looks brand new!

[GirlinDuluth]

you guys will be surprised at how fast that Texas Roadhouse will be built! We have been in coon rapids for training so havent been to see the site yet but will go see it as soon as we come home to Duluth! They are talking about adding an outdoor dining deck for the summer, what do you guys think? I think it's too windy up there.

[nateduluthnative]

Originally Posted by GirlinDuluth

you guys will be surprised at how fast that Texas Roadhouse will be built! We have been in coon rapids for training so havent been to see the site yet but will go see it as soon as we come home to Duluth! They are talking about adding an outdoor dining deck for the summer, what do you guys think? I think it's too windy up there.

I live in Shoreview and work in Anoka, so I see that Texas Roadhouse every day! I'm surprised that there isn't more of them. Usually it takes a dozen locations and twenty years in the Cities before any good chain restaurant makes it to Duluth.

[duluthian2008]

Outdoor dining deck for the Duluth location? If its that location you are talking about, for sure. I think that they would do very well with an outdoor dining area. You'd be surprised by how much of a buffer those trees will provide. Now if it was Olive Garden talking about adding an outdoor dining area, I would think that would be not in their best interest. Their site has nothing to block the wind.

I think it is really weird that we are getting a TR so quick too. But hey! Good for Duluth. Maybe it will alert more retailers and restaurants that we are a good market to get into quickly. Same thing goes with Five Guys, we will be the states third location. Sonic is also hoping to open up here quickly, they do have about six locations in the Twin Cities so they might not count as much.

I do hope the construction goes quickly. Its going to be nice to finally have a building on that site. Hopefully the rest of Duluth Hill will be built quickly, that is the strip center and big box retail space!

[aluminumpork]

Saw a very interesting article linked on BusinessNorth about a "Canal Park West" concept dubbed "River Walk West". A large scale retail, residential, hotel and park development similar in style to Canal Park, but more modern and with a large focus on leaving nature intact and building bike, ski and hiking trails. The developments would occur in the Spirit Valley area around Grand Ave. This kind of development would do wonders for that end of the city and would give people a reason to turn right off of 35 instead of going to the defacto Canal Park.

Still in extremely early stages thus far. Still trying to acquire all of the land necessary before trying to attract developers, but still very exciting that somebody has these large of plans for the area.

Link: Canal Park West? | The Cheerleader Blog

[duluthian2008]

Read the article. Thats very interesting. It does seem though as if it is quite a ways down Grand Avenue, farther than the Zoo. That could be quite a journey for Tourists, not they wouldn't venture down there. Also I feel like there are going to be issues with retail and restaurants along with hotels going in that area. I feel like that the neighbors might fight it, it would attract more visitors to the area though which would be good for the Zoo. PLUS, if they are going to do condos River Walk West would have to clean that area up quite a bit, depending on how expensive the condos become. But I think its a great development! I would love to see it actually happen. It does seem like it could take a while to be fully constructed, but I am sure when it is it will be an awesome development. It would be nice if they had some taller buildings on the site for the hotels and Condos, that would attract people from the freeway and also give the visitors a nice view of the area. Seems to me like these developers have a very good plan for the land. I would love to see more about the project!

[duluthian2008]

Coming Soon sign is up for Texas Roadhouse and construction has started! I cant believe how quick they are working. They have a lot of the hole dug already and they haven't even been working for two weeks. Very exciting! Buffalo Construction is building it. They are not a Minnesota company but are licensed to build in every state.

[duluthian2008]

I was talking to a Canal Park merchant and they said that the Canal Park businesses are trying to get the city to let them build a parking ramp between Hells Kitchen and Green Mill. But so far the city has said no. Wouldnt that be great?! She said the ramp would blend in with the surrounding buildings. I think it would be amazing to have more parking in Canal and also to have more buildings! If you get a chance take a look at Canal on Bing Maps. Look at the huge amount of space wasted by parking lots. I think that they should build a parking ramp/ first floor retail development between Green Mill and Hells Kitchen. They could fill up every space on the bottom and parking would be added at the same time. I also think that the parking lot across from the Sports Garden should be torn up and retail/ a hotel along with Condos should be added, of course with parking atop or mixed in. There is so much potential for these wasted parking lots. There are two things Canal Park lacks. Parking and more space for hotels and retailers. The city could fill both needs... and we all know that A&L would love to get their hands on some more land down there... I think that Grandmas and A&L could have a nice deal set up for that parking lot across from the Sports Garden.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

[newcastle]

Originally Posted by duluthian2008

I was talking to a Canal Park merchant and they said that the Canal Park businesses are trying to get the city to let them build a parking ramp between Hells Kitchen and Green Mill. But so far the city has said no. Wouldnt that be great?! She said the ramp would blend in with the surrounding buildings. I think it would be amazing to have more parking in Canal and also to have more buildings! If you get a chance take a look at Canal on Bing Maps. Look at the huge amount of space wasted by parking lots. I think that they should build a parking ramp/ first floor retail development between Green Mill and Hells Kitchen. They could fill up every space on the bottom and parking would be added at the same time. I also think that the parking lot across from the Sports Garden should be torn up and retail/ a hotel along with Condos should be added, of course with parking atop or mixed in. There is so much potential for these wasted parking lots. There are two things Canal Park lacks. Parking and more space for hotels and retailers. The city could fill both needs... and we all know that A&L would love to get their hands on some more land down there... I think that Grandmas and A&L could have a nice deal set up for that parking lot across from the Sports Garden.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

I've suggested this for years to friends. I did a college senior thesis on city planning (Yes, I am a geek). There is a book I used for reference called Making Places Special: Real Stories of Real Places Made Better by Planning. Duluth is referenced in the book (Whole chapter) next to cities like Providence, Charleston, San Diego, Madison and others. Charleston is the one that has a similar history to Duluth in that it had years and years of decline that now make it "special" since all its historic building and core were saved. They have in-fill parking with front level shops and parking on top in many places downtown.

The parking ramps are designed to look like the buildings on the outside and hide the ramp on the inside. The parking lot that is across from the sports garden should be turned into housing and shops and parking along with the top floors of the Dewitts building that are vacant.

[aluminumpork]

Interesting little tidbit that I didn't know about. Kohls is planning to build a 111 spot parking ramp on their newly acquired swamp land. Are they planning on doing something different with their current parking lot? Because that seems like A LOT of additional parking.