New Restaurant, Retail Building, Proposed for Lexington-Diffley Neighborhood

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The owners of the Diffley Marketplace have plans to expand the retail complex—plans that include the development of a full-service restaurant and a 9,424-square-foot multi-tenant retail building.

The Eagan City Council reviewed plans for the proposed development on Tuesday night, unanimously passing a final planned development agreement for the multi-tenant building and a preliminary planned development agreement for the proposed restaurant.

The two projects will likely be built separately, according to Rick Plessner, Vice President of Inland Commercial Property Management, LLC., the company that owns the Diffley Marketplace. The marketplace, located just southeast of the intersection of Diffley Road and Lexington Avenue in Eagan, was constructed in 2008 and includes a Cub Foods, Dunn Bros. Coffee Shop and several other businesses.

The property, plus two adjacent parcels to the east of the retail center, were purchased by Inland in 2010, Plessner said. The company plans to use those adjacent lots as the location for both the proposed restaurant and the retail building.

Ground breaking on the retail center could come as early as this spring, Plessner said. The proposed building may accommodate as many as five tenants, and already Plessner is negotiating with an orthodontist, dentist, daycare provider and a frozen yogurt shop interested in the space.

Development of the 5,580-square-foot restaurant is running on a slightly slower timeline, Plessner said. The company is currently in talks with a family-friendly restaurant business that doesn't yet have a location in Eagan, Plessner said. The restaurant plans include outdoor patio seating. The style of both proposed buildings would match the building style of the marketplace complex, according to Plessner.

"We think that we have a good neighborhood user that might ask for [a permit to serve] beer and wine," Plessner told the council on Tuesday.

Correction: This article has been modified to correct an inaccuracy. The Diffley Marketplace is located southeast of the Lexington-Diffley intersection, and the site of the proposed development is just east of the marketplace.