Met Council has a plan for barren Apache mall

One of the saddest retail sights in the Twin Cities area could turn into a symbol of revival for aging suburbs.

In his annual State of the Region address this morning, Metropolitan Council Chairman Ted Mondale is expected to announce that the council has selected the area around Apache Plaza -- a once-thriving 30-acre shopping center now nearly deserted -- as one of a half-dozen showpiece sites for the council's "smart-growth" initiative. All of the sites will be announced at today's address, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Midtown YWCA, 2121 E. Lake St., Minneapolis.

The council has been seeking such sites to prove that its emphasis on creating walkable, transit-centered mixes of housing, shops and other uses -- as opposed to the automobile-oriented development common in the suburbs -- can work in the real world.

The Apache Plaza area holds special appeal because it's near an 80-year-old, 100-acre Salvation Army camp on Silver Lake. The army is looking for buyers, and the thought is that exciting things could happen if a huge natural site close to downtown Minneapolis could be linked to attractive housing.

Hennepin Parks would like to acquire the camp as a new regional park but may not be able to afford to pay the market rate the army seeks. But collaborating with developers building high-end housing could help make those numbers work and also could help finance the costly demolition of Apache Plaza if necessary. The center is less than 5 miles from downtown Minneapolis and near multiple transit routes, including a potential commuter-rail line.

Dennis Cavanaugh, retired chairman and chief executive officer of the old Soo Line railroad, was elected mayor of St. Anthony last year partly on a pledge to jump-start the troubled Apache Plaza site by rezoning it.

"Who would have thought the Salvation Army camp could help develop the Apache Plaza property?" he said Tuesday. "But if we could have a park, have some sort of development along with it -- they could complement each other, protect the lakefront and clean up the lake. And as a home buyer, what an environment to be in!"

The St. Anthony City Council has appointed a task force to examine all options.

Potential pitfalls

Developers and city planners caution that any grand scheme has several obstacles. In this case, they are:

• An apartment complex and small residential area south of Silver Lake, between the Salvation Army camp and Apache Plaza. Some may advocate replacing those units, but if they stay, those residents and others near the site may oppose high-density residential development.
  
  
• An almost-new Cub Foods on the north end of the Apache Plaza site. The suburban-style store may fit uneasily with the pedestrian-friendly development the Met Council likes.
  
  
• A Salvation Army site that is small by Hennepin Parks standards, and one that parks officials may not be comfortable sharing with housing. But Douglas Bryant, superintendent of Hennepin Parks, said Tuesday: "We would be open to that discussion as long as our objectives were able to be accomplished."

Passed by

Apache Plaza once housed Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney, among many others. But the siting of freeways and bigger regional shopping centers didn't help it, and its owners wound up turning the property back to the bank. A recent attempt to install high-tech businesses there was rejected by the City Council.

The upside of redeveloping the area is considerable, said Perry Thorvig, a St. Anthony resident and Richfield city planner who will serve on the task force.

"People are dying for new housing opportunities where you can walk to a lake," he said. "That lakeshore is beautiful, but there's now a big fence around it; you can't get to it. The private property owners have a nice deal, but the rest of us don't. This would make development on the Apache Plaza site more desirable and make the whole community more desirable. We could ride our bikes there -- it'd be great. It's an exciting opportunity, if the community can open up its eyes and mind and think outside the box."

David Peterson can be contacted at david.a.peterson@startribune.com