From: Finance & Commerce
By: Burl Gilyard

Developer Colleen Carey of the Richfield-based Cornerstone Group is preparing to buy the former

The former Lyndale Garden Center, 6400 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield, will be redeveloped by the Cornerstone Group. The proposed $36 million project would include 48,000 square feet of retail space and about 125 housing units. (File photo: Bill Klotz)

Lyndale Garden Center for a mixed-use redevelopment. The site at 6400 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield has been vacant for five years.

“We are closing on Monday,” Carey said. “We’re really excited about the possibilities for this site. It fits with our mission, which is working on projects that have the opportunity to transform communities.”

Carey is proposing a $36 million project that would include 48,000 square feet of retail space and about 125 housing units, including both affordable and market-rate apartments. The project would be developed in three phases.

Carey’s group is paying $3 million for the site, which has been owned by the Del Mar, Calif.-based Rancho Richfield LLC. It has an assessed value of about $2.7 million, according to Hennepin County property tax records.

“We’re the sole investor at this point. We will be bringing in equity investors for the different phases as we need them,” Carey said.

She expects the retail part of the site to move forward first.

“We have a couple of big tenants that are interested,” Carey said. “We want to create a town center for the city of Richfield at this location.”

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