Eden Prairie Planning Commission backs Marshall Gardens housing development plan

A plan to build 15 single-family homes and 100 townhome units on the 32-acre Marshall family farm at 9905 Dell Road was endorsed on a 7-1 vote by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission on Monday.

Next for the project, called Marshall Gardens, is a review by the Eden Prairie City Council and another public hearing.

Why it matters: The developer is going in a different direction than the city’s Guide Plan, which envisioned 55 single-family homes on the property. City staff say the change is warranted because of trade-offs that will benefit Eden Prairie: more open space, protection of river valley bluffs, and more energy-saving features.

The plan by Lake West Development LLC of Minnetonka is opposed by some neighbors. Nearly a dozen of them testified before the planning commission. Among the most common criticisms were:

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• The connection of the proposed neighborhood’s main thoroughfare with the existing Laforet Drive in the established neighborhood to the north.
• A 250-plot community garden to honor the Marshall legacy. It would be operated as a nonprofit with preference given to the development’s residents.

Less criticized but central to the plan are the 100 townhome units, designed as four three-story buildings connected by underground parking.

Here are some other key facts about the project:

• The 15 small-lot, single-family homes are described as one-story plus a loft and, like the townhomes, are designed mostly for empty nesters.
• The developer said the single-family homes would be priced at around $1.2 million, and the townhomes would range from $900,000 to $1.3 million.
• More than 18 of the 32 acres would be open space, according to the developer, including 2.5 acres for the community gardens and 13 acres to protect a steep bluff at the property’s south and southeast borders.
• The plan has more energy-saving features than required by the city’s sustainable-building standards, including solar panels on the townhouse roofs and about one-half of the underground parking stalls wired for electric-vehicle charging.
• City policies would require the developer to provide at least 10 units of affordable housing in its project, but Lake West Development is instead opting to pay a $1.5 million fee that would be used for affordable-housing efforts elsewhere in Eden Prairie.

A study found that the development, as proposed, poses no traffic issues.

Prior to making its formal application for city approval, the developer had informal discussions with city council members at workshops on Feb. 6 and April 16.

The Marshall farm has a long history spelled out on the website for Marshall’s Farm Market, the business 2½ miles away at County Roads 1 and 4 that’s operated by family members. The farm was purchased in the mid-1950s, and George and Mable Marshall raised nine children there while operating a truck-farming business. George died in 2013; Mable passed away in 2022.