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| Top, Diners will enjoy culinary offerings from the Plaza’s new restaurants on fountain-side patios. Just above, The redeveloped Plaza will feature 20 acres of shopping, dining and recreation opportunities. Future phases include office space and senior housing.
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Mendota Plaza Makeover
Redeveloped Plaza to offer new shopping, dining and recreation opportunities
Residents from Mendota Heights and surrounding areas will soon have a premier shopping destination at a familiar location when Mendota Plaza undergoes a makeover this spring. The Plaza's facelift comes courtesy of Paster Enterprises, a development and management firm with a long history of adding value to the communities in which it builds.
Paster Enterprises has been owned and operated by the Paster family for three generations. The firm has a unique tie to the Mendota Heights community that makes redeveloping the shopping center a personal project. "The CEO of our company, Edward Paster, had lived in Mendota Heights for 30 years," explains Ken Henk, Director of Development and Construction. "We definitely want to do something special in this community."
The professionals at Paster Enterprises aren't the only ones looking forward to the new and improved Mendota Plaza. The Mendota Heights community is also eagerly awaiting the Plaza's makeover. "Residents we talked to are really looking forward to the redevelopment," Henk says. "They realized it was in need of a facelift."
The firm is set to break ground on the project this spring, beginning with an extensive remodeling of the existing Plaza building, which first opened in 1970. The initial phase includes the addition of a freestanding Walgreen's and a new structure with space for one large or two smaller restaurants with patios overlooking a pond with a fountain. "We wanted to create a pleasant space, both outdoors and inside the restaurants themselves," Henk says.
Seeing a need for additional retail space, the plan also includes 12,000 square feet that will house five to seven retail or service businesses.
Its prime location at the southwest corner of Highway 110 and Dodd Road also makes Mendota Plaza ideal for office space. "It's all about location, location, location," says Howard Paster, president of Paster Enterprises.
The remodeled Plaza will be ready for occupancy as early as spring and summer of 2010. Future development phases include a childcare facility, office building and four-story senior facility.
Thoughtfully designed, inside and out
The upscale exterior of the remodeled Plaza is designed to enhance the community's appearance as much as the business environment within its walls. The retail structures, designed to look like individual storefronts, will feature yellow brick exteriors with red brick accents. Strategically placed lighting will accent decorative column details on the buildings edges and create a "halo effect" on corner towers at night. The same building materials will be applied to the existing building and future retail structures, creating a visually pleasing, uniform look throughout the Plaza.
The firm also made sure to preserve existing greenery and natural landscape. The plan features abundant sidewalks and a heavily landscaped boulevard with clusters of river birch and other trees. A terraced space overlooking the development will create a common meeting place for nearby residents and visitors to the center. "All of this will make the Plaza more pedestrian-friendly," Henk says.
The Paster name has been synonymous with successful, well-managed properties for more than 60 years. The firm currently manages 11 shopping centers, totaling more than 1 million square feet, in the Twin Cities area.
Their success can be attributed to more than finding the right projects. The firm makes a point of bringing together the right people to develop, manage, lease and otherwise handle their properties. "We have some very capable, intelligent, hardworking people here," Paster says. "We couldn't do what we do if it weren't for those team members."
Community involvement and input from city staff also go a long way in creating successful developments. "It's a partnership," Paster explains. "We all have to work together to create something that's successful. Clearly that's the case here in Mendota Heights."
The firm routinely hosts community events at its shopping centers, and Mendota Plaza is no exception. Past events include Halloween trick-or-treating at Plaza businesses and gift drives for Neighbors Inc., a local nonprofit organization. "We do a lot to get involved with the community, not only at Mendota Plaza, but at a lot of our centers," says Marketing Manager Malisa Hyland.
Since the 1950s, Paster Enterprises has prided itself on being long-term holders of its shopping centers, and hopes to do the same with Mendota Plaza, which it has owned since 1985. "We intend to be a part of this community for a long time to come," Henk affirms.
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