Whole Foods in Downtown Minneapolis?

I usually don't get too excited over the possibility of a new grocery store opening but I can see why my associate Fritz Kroll is so enthusiastic over this news in the Strib:

Downtown condo plan goes retail

The developer shifted gears in a saturated downtown condo market. The new plan has Whole Foods and possibly a Best Buy.

"This would just be dynamite," said Fritz Kroll, North Loop livability chairman and a sales agent for an Edina Realty office that's in a renovated 1800s hotel down the street from the project.

"It says that there's enough housing already on the market and that there's already enough housing here to support some substantial retail growth."

On Wednesday night, Seattle-based developer Don Milliken of the Milliken Develoment Group presented preliminary plans for the 165,000-square-foot project to members of the North Loop Neighborhood Association. Plans include a 71,000-square-foot Whole Foods store on the first floor and high-end retail space on the second floor that could include a Best Buy store. Whole Foods and the prospective Best Buy store would represent 70 percent of the space. There will also be underground parking, windows into Whole Foods along Hennepin Avenue and public spaces that weren't part of the condo plan.

That's right, Kid "Dyn-A-Mite" Kroll! Seriously, this is just what is needed in that area. Plus it gives some competition to the newly opened Lunds across the river. All the new condos are great. The restaurants are fabulous. But amenities like grocery and useful retail will really cement that area in as truly livable for years to come. That's the real news here. The stuff about the waning condo market is so 2006.

Personally I am more than a little excited about the new Super Target opening in Richfield. I wouldn't necessarily want to be next door but having the big box shop just a short drive away (diaper run!) is comforting. Plus, the organic produce in the grocery part of the store is actually very strong.

Now if we could just get a Whole Foods somewhere along the Hiawatha Light Rail Line...