Richfield Recieves DEED Grant for Lyndale Gardens Project

The city received $100,000 for cleanup.

Developer Unveils Initial Lyndale Garden Design Plans

The plans were shown during a community event Thursday evening.

For roughly 16 months, residents have been waiting to catch a glimpse of the future Lyndale Garden Center property. Finally, during a community event with the Richfield Farmers Market Thursday evening, The Cornerstone Group unveiled initial renderings of the future downtown Richfield center. "We're still very much in the design and planning part of the process," Colleen Carey, president of the development firm, told Richfield Patch. "It's not a done deal yet." Thursday's event was a chance for the Carey and her development team to showcase their current concept for the site. The event was also aimed to gather more input and feedback. "We want input and we welcome input," Carey said. "We want [the center] to be a place where people want to …

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Letter to the Editor

Concerned Residents Continue Pleas for City to Reconsider Pillsbury Commons

Richfield residents have been calling, sending letters and e-mails to city staff and officials, in hopes of stopping the Pillsbury Commons development proposal as it is.

Editor's Note: The following is a letter sent by Richfield resident Bob Olson to Richfield city staff, council members and local media editors. The Pillsbury Commons development project has become a great controversy among neighbors, who have a wide variety of concerns. Many letters have been written to city staff and council members. The following is an example of those those letters, sent to staff and editors Monday. Dear Mayor Goettel, Richfield City Council and Richfield Commission Members: Since the Pillsbury Commons issue has arisen I have become increasingly concerned with what seems to be a rush by our city to comply with the Affordable Housing Need Allocation developed by the Metropolitan Council as part of the “Summary Report: …

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Colleen Carey: ‘100 Percent Affordable Housing Doesn’t Make Sense’

The Cornerstone Group’s president addresses the affordable housing component for the Lyndale Garden Center development project.

After announcing Minnesota Life College would not occupy one of the new buildings proposed for the Lyndale Garden Center development, The Cornerstone Group has recently caught some flack for “revealing” the housing portion of that building would’ve been 100 percent affordable. “We have always said that we were going to have affordable housing in this project,” Carey said. “And as we went through talks with [Minnesota Life College] they felt the tax credit option would be the most beneficial for them. It was no secret. … There was no bait and switch here.” Currently, plans stand to rehabilitate the existing garden center building, build two mixed-income housing complexes at the back of the lot, as well as move forward with the building that…

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Minnesota Life College Works With Cornerstone Group for New Space

The Cornerstone Group and Minnesota Life College work together to find a new space for the college and continue Lyndale Garden Center vision.

In addition to receiving an update on the Kmart redevelopment plans from Wellington Management Inc. Tuesday night, the Richfield City Council heard a few more details from The Cornerstone Group’s Colleen Carey about the progress on the Lyndale Garden Center redevelopment project. For months plans have been set for turning the seemingly dilapidated building into a mixed-use space with retail and public space, as well as building housing on the north side of the property to overlook Richfield Lake. At a recent special work session, Carey told council members The Cornerstone Group had a purchase agreement for the property directly north of the garden center site. This new space allows the developers to expand the housing component of the …

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Caitlin Burgess

4:05 pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Thank for the compliment Jeff! Keep reading!   more ›

VIDEO: Richfield Council Member Wroge Puts The Cornerstone Group's President in the Hot Seat

Now that Kensington Park is in forclosure, its owner's ability to complete another Richfield project without financial repercussions is being questioned.

The beautiful Kensington Park development, once a property worth $9.3 million, is now being appraised at less than $4 million—the result of poor economic times, according to Colleen Carey, owner of the property and president the development firm The Cornerstone Group. Pair the enormous decrease in the property’s value with retail tenants lost as a result of the Lyndale Avenue bridge reconstruction and you’ll see that The Cornerstone Group has found itself in a financial pickle—and members of the Richfield City Council, especially Council Member Fred Wroge, wanted answers Tuesday night. “I find it hard to believe that … Richfield [property values] went down 22 percent in commercial properties and your’s went down over 60 percent,” Wroge …

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Five Things: Old Richfield City Hall Demolition Scheduled

Five news tidbits you should know about today.

1) The old Richfield City Hall building is scheduled to begin demolition July 18 and will take approximately three weeks to finish, according to Lucas Johnson, media coordinator for the city. 2) The Richfield City Council is holding a special worksession at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night  at Richfield City Hall and Municipal Center to discuss The Cornerstone Group and sidewalk snowplowing. 3) The Richfield City Council will also hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday night and discuss a variety of topics including an amendment to the plans for Lyndale Commons, a proposed apartment building to take the place of the Woodlake Plaza strip mall. 4) Gov. Mark Dayton announced Monday that he would be traveling around the state for two days to tell …

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Richfield News Sprouts

Five Things: Government Shutdown, Fourth of July Weekend

Five things you need to know today.

1) The Minnesota State Government is officially shut down until Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP Lawmakers can come to a decision. It is unclear when the next round of negotiations will begin. Richfield Patch has been regularly covering the shutdown for weeks and a list of all the articles can be found here. 2) Richfield's Hometown Fourth of July Celebration kicks-off Friday afternoon. For a list of the weekend's events, click here. Also, stayed tuned for stories and photos from the weekend; Richfield Patch photographers will be out in the crowds. 3) Richfield's Fire Chief Brad Sveum officially retired Wednesday. Wayne Kewitsch has now assumed the role of Richfield Fire Chief. 4) If you're heading out of town for the weekend, check Richfield's Gas…

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Lyndale Garden Center Developers Receive Funding for Site Contamination Study

Site developers receive a grant to conduct an investigation to determine how badly the soil is contaminated.

The redevelopment of the disheveled Lyndale Garden Center site moved one step closer to fruition after its developers, The Cornerstone Group, received a $38,100 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to conduct a contamination investigation. The 7.5-acre site is contaminated with pesticides, lead, volatile organic compounds and asbestos, according to a DEED press release. The investigation will allow the developers to determine how badly the soil is damaged. The garden center project—which will be developed into a mixed-use site with commercial, public and housing elements—was one of 19 projects in Minnesota to be awarded DEED funding. The grants aim to get contaminated land restored and put back …

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