The Eden Prairie School District has acquired part of the old Supervalu campus in Eden Prairie with plans to convert a building on the property into a school for older students, part of an emerging new vision for the sprawling former corporate campus.
Independent School District No. 272 paid $9.2 million for the 165,000-square-foot building at 11840 Valley View Road, future home of the district’s Tassel Transition Program, according to a certificate of real estate value made public Tuesday. Supervalu Inc. is the seller.
Julie Klima, Eden Prairie’s community development director, said the district’s “stated intent is to repurpose the building and reuse it for school district purposes.”
The building, built in 1979, anchors a 107-acre campus with access to Interstate 494 and Highways 212, 169, and 62. United Natural Foods Inc., the parent company of Supervalu, put the campus up for sale in 2023 with plans to move to a smaller site.
Since that time, the future of the campus has been the subject of speculation. Though the school district’s plans bring some clarity to the 61-acre eastern part of the campus and the existing three-story building, the undeveloped western portion is still a work in progress.
Earlier this year, the City Council reviewed a concept plan from CSM Corp. for the western portion. The concept included a multi-phase development with a hotel, a restaurant and two apartment buildings with a combined 300-plus units.
Klima said the city has not received a formal application from CSM for the western portion, which is still owned by United Natural Foods.
Elsewhere on the campus, plans are moving forward more quickly.
In June, the City Council approved a comprehensive plan amendment and a zoning change to allow the school district to convert the former Supervalu office building into a school for the Tassel program, which serves special needs students ages 18 to 22.
The program currently uses space at the Hennepin Technical College South Campus and the TASSEL Education Center at 8040 Mitchell Road, both of which are in Eden Prairie, according to the program’s website . The city now needs the Mitchell Road space for an expansion of its police facility.
In March, district spokesman Dirk Tedman told the Eden Prairie Planning Commission that the district anticipates increasing enrollment over the next few years, while the city plans to add 1,000 more housing units in the next 10 years.
Because of space constraints, the district has to outsource some of its special education services, he said.
“The sort of facility allows us to dream into the future,” Tedman said.
CBRE has been marketing the former Supervalu campus as an ideal site for residential, medical office, retail or hospitality. Served by 744 parking stalls, the building features a workout room with showers and lockers, data center and backup generator, according to a CBRE marketing brochure.
The Valley View building and surrounding campus served for years as Supervalu’s headquarters. In 2011, the company moved its headquarters to leased space at 7075 Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie, but returned to the Valley View building just two years later, as Finance & Commerce reported in 2013.
RELATED: Supervalu moving back to former headquarters
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