By MCKAYL BARROWS/Murphy News Service
Hillcrest Development continues work to transform Edina’s Pentagon Park into the “next generation” office park known as The Link.
The Edina City Council in May 2014 gave Hillcrest preliminary approval to start the redevelopment project on Pentagon Park. The approvals included changing the zoning of the property and allowing mixed use developments at a variety of different heights.
Demolition of the south parcel of Pentagon Park took place last October and the developer is marketing the space to potential tenants and planning for its next stages.
“We want to find the right fit, the right density the right mix of things. [The Link] is a multiple use, multiple generation project,” Hillcrest Development Owner Scott Tankenoff told Edina City Council on Oct. 20.
Developers are working to secure a variety of different tenants looking for the space in medical, retail and, potentially, housing sectors. No names of businesses will be announced until contracts are signed, but the developer said he is actively working on a number of deals.
“He [Tankenoff] has been doing a lot of the background work to really understand what type of improvements will be needed that will be underground, but without the underground improvements you’ll never have anything built on top of it,” Economic Development Manager Bill Neuendorf said.
The north parcel of Pentagon Park is now about 95 percent occupied, a distinct turnaround from previously being 90 percent vacant three years ago. Hillcrest aims to fill and stabilize the three-story buildings on the north portion of Pentagon Park, Neuendorf said.
Redevelopment of the north parcel eventually will take place, but for now, the primary focus is on the south parcel of Pentagon Park.
Tankenoff stressed that a project of this stature cannot be rushed, but he is very dedicated to providing an “office of the future”.
“We’re not going to start a 40,000- or 50,000-square-foot, one-to-three-story building on the south parcel because we would, candidly, be short-changing the property. It wouldn’t be what we promised the community, it’s inconsistent,” Tankenoff said.
Hillcrest is projected to return to the City Council in 2016 for final approval after the tenants have been announced. Construction would be expected to start shortly thereafter, Neuendorf said.
“Neither the owner, nor the city as a regulator, is willing to accept a bottom-of-the-barrel tenant or a bottom-of-the-barrel project, so we are really holding out for that right mixture, [. . .] that really creates not a 1960s office park, not a 1980s office park, not even a 2000s office park, but we really want to get the combination of users there that responds to the whole next generation of technology in the workplace,” Neuendorf said.
The groundbreaking for the Three Rivers Trail Friday at Fred Richard Park will potentially spur development for The Link, Tankenoff told City Council Tuesday.
It will provide more certainty for those considering The Link and will might increase potential tenants in committing to come to The Link, Tankenoff said. “The reality of the trail breaking ground is a huge benefit and will be very helpful”
Fred Richards Park is adjacent to Pentagon Park and is also set to undergo a redevelopment. The Three Rivers Trail regional trail, which will extend through Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield and Bloomington, will open up transit to The Link.
Edina Mayor James Hovland, suggested at the City Council meeting Tuesday the possibility of moving more money toward the Fred Richards Park project in 2016 “to spur development quicker and [. . .] create more certainty for potential tenants or occupants.”
Reporter McKayl Barrows is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.