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    Eden Prairie Local News
    Home»City of Eden Prairie»Plans for empty storefronts, return of local food event revealed at 2025 State of the City
    City of Eden Prairie

    Plans for empty storefronts, return of local food event revealed at 2025 State of the City

    Joanna Werch TakesBy Joanna Werch TakesJanuary 28, 202511 Mins Read
    man wearing a suit and stocking cap stands at podium, another man in suit holds up a stocking cap while a third man in a suit looks on
    Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Josh Swanson, City Manager Rick Getschow, and Chamber of Commerce President Pat MulQueeny offered prizes to the crowd after their State of the City presentations.

    People attending the Jan. 23 State of the City event were among the first to hear of plans to turn a vacant building originally planned as an Amazon Fresh grocery store into a Lava Island indoor playground, among other updates from local leaders.

    A slide showing a photo of vehicles parked outside a building with blank storefront and photos of indoor ball pit and climbing apparatus
    A slide shows the currently vacant building, once planned as an Amazon Fresh grocery store, alongside a Lava Island indoor playground.

    Eden Prairie City Manager Rick Getschow said that, although “it’s not a done deal yet,” the Lava Island in the building on the southwest corner of Flying Cloud and Prairie Center drives, near Chick-fil-A, would be the business’s first location in Minnesota and would utilize the entire building.

    Getschow, along with Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce President Pat MulQueeny and Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Josh Swanson, gave updates to attendees on what’s happening in the city, its businesses and schools at the chamber’s annual State of the City event. 

    JCPenney space plans, a bigger drone light show, property taxes and more

    slide showing 4 photos: aerial photo of mall land, view of mall entrance, woman in suit testifying for House File 5046, man in suit testifying for House File 5046
    A slide shows an aerial view of the Eden Prairie Center mall space, along with images from past state legislative hearings on using tax-increment financing (TIF) for a renovation project.

    In addition to the Lava Island plans, Getschow discussed other business and residential development in Eden Prairie, as well as property tax rates. “One of the biggest projects that we’re going to see when it comes to commercial development, or redevelopment, is what happens with JCPenney,” he said. The retailer announced in August that it would permanently close its location in Eden Prairie Center. 

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    The city is looking at transforming the space into a large mixed-use development that could incorporate hotel, residential, commercial and office space. Getschow indicated that 2025 could see the beginning stages of what he described as a four- to five-year project. “Eden Prairie and Eden Prairie Center is a desirable location. We will see positive development, and that’ll be coming within the next year,” Getschow said.  

    slide showing 1 photo of a tree-lined gravel road, 1 photo of row of townhouses, 1 map of a housing development
    Plans for the Marshall Gardens housing development also include reconstruction of Dell Road, including paving a gravel portion.
    slide showing 1 photo of people playing an outdoor racket sport, 1 aerial photo of park space with sports complex, 1 drawing of sports court plans
    The new Miller Park sports complex will include outdoor pickleball, tennis and basketball courts.
    slide showing an image of 'the historic flying red horse' sign mounted atop an "Eden Prairie Town Center' monument
    The city plans to mount the historic Flying Red Horse sign on a monument near a light rail station.
    Getschow’s slides included visualizations of planned projects, such as the Marshall Gardens housing development, Miller Park sports complex and Flying Red Horse monument.

    The first major remodel of Eden Prairie City Center in more than 30 years will begin this spring, expanding space for the police department within the City Hall building and providing indoor parking for police vehicles. With recent City Council approval, 2025 will also see the beginning of construction on Marshall Gardens, a residential development featuring 15 single-family homes and 100 townhomes on 32 acres of the former Marshall family farm. Accompanying this project will be reconstruction of nearby Dell Road, set to begin in 2025, including paving the remaining gravel portion of the road.

    a slide showing names of several restaurants in Eden Prairie
    Getschow presented a slide listing new or soon-to-open restaurants in Eden Prairie.

    Getschow also mentioned the planned spring 2025 opening of a renovated Miller Park sports complex which will add eight new outdoor pickleball courts, bringing the city’s total to 22; a spring or summer 2025 installation of the historic Flying Red Horse sign atop a monument along Flying Cloud Drive, near the Redstone American Grill restaurant; and several restaurants in the city. Additionally, he said the city plans to expand its Independence Day drone light show in 2025

    man in suit stands at podium in front of slide stating 2025 State of the City with photo of local city council members
    Eden Prairie City Manager Rick Getschow presented his portion of the event in the format of a game show.

    When it comes to property taxes, Getschow said Eden Prairie ranks 14th among the 16 largest cities in the Twin Cities metro area, with $1,676 in city tax levied on a median-value home worth $540,000. Of note, Getschow said, is that, “For the first time in at least two decades, we are lower than the Emerald City: our taxes are lower than the City of Edina next door.” 

    a slide lists the city tax on a $540,000 house for 16 cities, with Eden Prairie highlighted
    A slide compared the 2025 city tax portion on a median-value home among 16 metro-area cities.

    While recent discussions at City Council meetings have focused on residential property tax rates, Getschow addressed commercial property taxes at the State of the City event. He noted that the projected city property tax impact on a median-value commercial property worth $4 million is just over 1%.  “That is quite a bit lower than the rate of inflation or the rate of spending, so we think we’re being pretty competitive,” Getschow said.

    EP businesses expect increased sales, hiring in 2025

    In his presentation, chamber president MulQueeny spoke about feedback gathered from businesses at the local and the state levels, including indications that a majority of Eden Prairie businesses plan to hire in 2025, as well as plans for the potential return of a Taste of Eden Prairie event. 

    slide shows 'employment in 2025' survey results, including 0% expect decrease, 45% remained same and 55% expect increase
    In response to an Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce survey, member businesses said they expected no decreases in employment in 2025.

    “When we look at employment in 2025, the good news here is that our members are saying that they’re not seeing any decreases, and either remaining the same in terms of their current employee count, at 45%, or a majority, 55%, have said they’re going to be hiring in the year ahead,” MulQueeny said. He was presenting data gathered from the chamber’s 2025 annual economic survey of its 330 members. Business respondents, however, said they were experiencing difficulty in finding talent in the areas of accounting, dental hygienist, sales and financial services.

    Local chamber members also reported similarities in net income between 2023 and 2024, with 49% seeing an increase in net income in 2023 compared to 58% in 2024. Sales projections for 2025 were also similar to those for 2024, with 8% of survey respondents expecting or experiencing decreases in both years, while 85% expect increased sales in 2025 and 84% reported increased sales in 2024.

    “We have a high expectation from previous years that we will see sales increases locally with our business community,” MulQueeny said. 

    slide shows survey results of net income comparisons for 2023 and 2024, with 16% decreases both years and 48% up over 10% in 2024 compared to 33% in 2023
    Similar to 2023, a majority of Eden Prairie businesses experienced a gain in net income in 2024.
    slide showing survey results on 2025 sales projections and 2024 results
    Eden Prairie businesses’ sales projections for 2025 are similar to 2024 results, with a majority expecting an increase in sales.
    slide showing survey results on 'top issues impacting your business," with 'government regulations' #1 at 39%, followed by 'economy' at 31% and 'inflation' at 15%
    Business owners responding to the chamber survey identified their top issues.
    The chamber’s annual economic survey solicited responses from member businesses on topics such as net income comparisons, 2025 sales projections and business owners’ top issues.

    Survey respondents identified “government regulations” as the top issue affecting their business, with 39% citing this option, compared to 31% who chose the economy and 15% who chose inflation. In particular, MulQueeny said, businesses are concerned about the impact on small businesses of the state’s paid family leave law, set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, and the earned sick and safe time law, which is currently in effect.  

    slide showing list of Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee's 2025 legislative priorities
    Government regulations, particularly state paid leave laws, are a top legislative priority for the Eden Prairie Chamber this year.
    slide showing "business benchmarks" from Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, with 'key takeaways'
    The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce provided a report on business benchmarks to its member organizations.
    The Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 legislative priorities are influenced by the survey of its members and data from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

    The Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce is one of 50 chambers statewide that partner with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce as part of the Minnesota Chamber Federation, which advocates for local chambers’ legislative priorities. “This is important because we work hand in hand to make sure that our business voice is heard and that issues being raised locally are heard at the state and federal levels,” MulQueeny said. 

    man in suit and red tie stands at podium in front of slide projection showing 'Eden Prairie & Entrepreneurship'
    Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce President Pat MulQueeny provided data from a local business survey and a statewide report to attendees.

    The chamber’s current legislative priorities, MulQueeny said, include small business exemptions for the paid time off laws, working specifically to help the restaurant community and generating a competitive tax driver. “When we say competitive, that means we don’t want to be No. 1 in corporate taxes,” MulQueeny said. He had previously shared data from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Business Benchmarks Report that listed the state’s corporate income tax as the highest in the nation.

    The local chamber, MulQueeny said, is “actively working on Taste of Eden Prairie, which would be, obviously, a food event and highlight and kind of provide some additional support for our local restaurants, as well as bringing our community together.” 

    a slide shows a list of business logos and local partners with Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce
    One of MulQueeny’s slides listed businesses and organizations with involvement in the local chamber of commerce.

    Also new in 2025 is the Eden Prairie Chamber Foundation, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. “The reason for this isn’t just to create another nonprofit organization, but it really is to provide resources for high impact opportunities within our business community, and one of the key focus areas of that will be on workforce,” MulQueeny said. He also mentioned the 2025 launch of a nine-month Leadership Eden Prairie training program, as well as ongoing programs such as the Small Business Roundtable, Entrepreneurs Bootcamp, Everything Spring Expo, and partnerships with Eden Prairie Schools.

    Eden Prairie Schools’ plans for new Valley View Road building

    Schools Superintendent Swanson also spoke at the State of the City event, held in the district’s Valley View Road Building, an office building formerly owned by United Natural Foods Inc. The building now houses the school district’s TASSEL Transition program for students aged 18-22 with disabilities.

    “Our students really are in a state-of-the-art learning environment here,” Swanson said. “They’re going to have lots of opportunities to learn in lots of different ways, as we think about having a full-scale industrial kitchen, a print shop and some of those things that will help develop life and career skills.”

    man in black suit and red tie stands at podium in front of slide showing 'Flight Plan 2035'
    Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Josh Swanson discussed the Flight Plan 2035 process, which outlines the district’s vision for education over the next 10 years.

    The school district began occupying the space in July, with the TASSEL program needing to find a new home from its previous spot in the west end of Eden Prairie City Center, now set to be remodeled for the new police station.

    The Valley View Road Building property abuts a portion of Bryant Lake. District science staff are exploring possible uses of the lake and woodlands for environmental sciences study, and activities groups are considering use of the site’s outdoor trails, Swanson said. Additionally, the district plans to bring its alternative learning program, currently outsourced to Intermediate District 287, to the space, as well as renting out the building’s third floor, Swanson said.

    “This new learning environment is one part of our larger effort to keep creating more authentic and personalized learning experiences for our students, and we really believe we’ve only scratched the surface of what we might be able to do,” Swanson said.

    The district, he noted, is working on its next 10-year vision through its Flight Plan 2035 process, which includes a speaker series featuring experts on education, well-being, learning, work, technology and more, followed by feedback from community members. So far, more than 1,800 people have contributed to the process, Swanson said.

    slide showing answers to 'how do parents rate Eden Prairie Schools' with percentages in the 90s
    Swanson referred to the results from a 2024 third-party survey on Eden Prairie Schools as “the graph of 90s.”

    “We’re already hugely successful right now, and it’s about continuing that great work that we’re doing and evolving it to find ways that we can even better fit the needs of tomorrow’s students,” Swanson said.

    He based the “hugely successful” comment on data gathered from a 2024 random sample survey conducted by the Morris Leatherman Co., where over 90% of respondents rated the district as excellent or good, and 99% of graduates said they were prepared for life after graduation. Those rating the district “excellent” in the 2024 survey increased 15% from 2023.

    slide showing bar graph of 2024 quality of Eden Prairie Public Schools perception
    The 2024 survey indicated an increase in those who perceived the quality of Eden Prairie Schools as “excellent.”
    slide showing results 'following the 100 years celebration,' including 11% attending more district/school events and 37% saying the district's reputation increased
    The survey also asked for respondents’ thoughts on Eden Prairie Schools’ 100th anniversary celebrations.
    The schools’ survey also captured data on perceptions of the quality of Eden Prairie Schools, and community involvement before and after the 2024 celebrations of the district’s 100th anniversary.

    “There’s an appreciation by our community for the amazing work our teachers and our staff and our principals and our schools are doing,” Swanson said.

    He also shared stories and videos from 2024’s celebration of the school district’s 100th anniversary, which included a spring Citywide Prom and a September parade.

    “This wasn’t just a celebration of our schools last year; it was truly a celebration of our community intended on fostering ongoing pride,” Swanson said.

    The district, he said, is deepening its work in alumni relations, which may include sharing stories of alumni, as well as students, in the district’s new annual magazine, Inspire. Copies of the first issue of the publication were available to those attending the State of the City event.

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