Hempel Real Estate and its partners are set to bring a positive change to an underused parcel of land in Edina, Minnesota.
Hempel, along with Monarch Development Partners, Jester Concepts and Rokos Advisors, will soon begin work on redeveloping a 3-acre parcel of land owned by the city of Edina, bringing new housing and a restaurant to the site.
The Edina Housing and Redevelopment Authority on Aug. 14 recommended that a purchase agreement be prepared with the Hempel team, instead of the 10 other interested buyers for the plot of and known as the Grandview Site. The Edina City Council will formally consider a purchase agreement sometime in September or October.
The site is located west of Highway 100 at the intersection of Eden Avenue and Arcadia Aveune. The site has been used as a public works facility since 1962.
Rick McKelvey, senior vice president of development with Hempel, said that the key to the development is the mix of owner-occupied housing with varying sizes and price points. The development will also include green space and a new restaurant from Jester Concepts.
“The city of Edina issued a clear RFP outlining its goals for this development site,” McKelvey said. “The city has been working for years to find the right use and the right developer. We think out proposal fits the bill of what the city is looking for. The city wanted a mix of commercial and residential uses.”
The residential component of the project includes townhomes and condominiums. These residences will come at different price points, too, to accommodate a variety of buyers. Though McKelvey could not yet release the price points of all the residential components — it is still early in the project’s development — he said that some units will be affordable housing, offered at 80% of the Area Median Income.
McKelvey said that the open green space is also an important part of the development.
“We are attempting to build a community here,” he said. “Not only do we want to have great homes inside the four walls, we also want to have great exterior space for the homeowners to enjoy.”
McKelvey said that Hempel’s goal is to start construction in the summer of 2026 and wrap up in the summer or fall of 2027.
Hempel is early in the due diligence process now, but is already working around a 30-plus-foot grade change on the 3-acre parcel from north to south. McKelvey said that this slope is something that Hempel will incorporate into the development. This might entail a public parking garage and a pedestrian bridge that connects to the development’s restaurant.
“We hope that this becomes a popular walkway and green space,” McKelvey said. “We are hoping to highlight that as an interesting feature of the site as opposed to just having a flat-level neighborhood here.”
Rokos Advisors represented Jester Concepts and played a key role in assembling the project’s development team. Jester has been connected to this project since 2020 and plans to announce its restaurant concept soon.
The restaurant will anchor a new building on the corner of Arcadia and Eden avenues. Jester already owns and operates Butcher and the Bear, PS Steak and Borough in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood. The company also owns and operates three locations of Rustica Bakery, two locations of Parlour, three other restaurants in Excelsior, Minnesota, and Starling in Edina.
