Business Owners Hope Outlet Mall Plans Will Bring Renaissance to Cedar Grove

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Doron Jensen's business——was dealt a double blow beginning in 2008.

Not only was the high-end eatery struggling with the loss of clientele as a result of the recession, but dozens of neighboring businesses—whose presence brought traffic and visibility to Jensen's restaurant—had closed or relocated as the city moved forward with plans to redevelop the Cedar Grove area.

"We fell off the table in 2009, we were down in 30 percent," Jensen said.

Fast forward several years, and Jensen hopes that a proposal to build a 400,000-square-foot outlet mall will start a business renaissance in the largely vacant Cedar Grove area.

Jensen's hopes are echoed by Eagan Community Development Director Jon Hohenstein.

In the late 1990s, city officials began acquiring property in the Cedar Grove area in preparation for redevelopment. By 2008, as many as 60 businesses had moved out of the area or closed altogether, Hohenstein estimates. Several businesses, including Competition Engines, Larson Automotive and a U-Haul company store, fought back with lawsuits that were ultimately resolved in 2011.

The detrimental effect the redevelopment had on remaining businesses, like Jensen's and , was not lost on Hohenstein.

"I think that the business that have remained have been very patient, and fortunately many of them are destination uses that people would still come from the broader area to use," Hohenstein said.

That patience may have paid off for Jensen's and other businesses in the area.

City officials originally planned for a mix of retail, residential and office space in the redeveloped Cedar Grove area. But the city and local business owners didn't anticipate a single, .

Paragon's plans call for the construction of 90-100 high-end retail shops in an open-air mall format on 35 acres of property in the Cedar Grove Redevelopment Area. The development would likely include one or two 25,000-square-foot anchor stores, and may cost as much as $100 million.

Other development proposals in the area have failed to materialize, and both Jensen and Cedarvale Lanes Vice President Gregg Zafft are are taking a wait-and-see approach to Paragon's plans, which are still in a preliminary stage.

Like Jensen's, Cedarvale lanes was also impacted by the redevelopment, according to Vice President Gregg Zafft. Losing so many nearby businesses hurt Cedarvale's lunch and happy hour business, Zafft said, and the business expanded its brunch sales to adjust to the changing economics of the area.

If the Paragon proposal goes through, Zafft and Jensen said, it could be a game-changer for the businesses in the area.

"There’s just no question it would be a dramatically positive development compared to what we have today," Jensen said.

“I’m ecstatic, but I will believe it when I see it," Jensen said. "This is about the fourth different concept that’s going in there, I’ve been excited three other times, only to be let down."

Correction: This article has been changed to correct an inaccuracy. Paragon Outlets is based in Baltimore, Md.