A shopping center in Oakdale was purchased for $23 million by Hempel Real Estate and Midloch Investment Partners, and according to a Hempel vice president, there are plans for improving the property over the next five years or so.
The shopping center, Bergen Plaza at 7191 10th St. N., was previously owned by Pine Tree, a retail real estate group based out of Oak Brook, Illinois. Ben Krsnak, Hempel’s executive vice president, said the two investment groups felt like work could be done to spruce it up and modernize the property along with increasing rents.
Krsnak said he felt good about the site because of its anchor tenant, a Cub grocery store, as well as tenants that have been in their spaces for long periods of times.
“I love grocery-anchored retail because it brings in your daily needs. Many people visit the grocery store several times a week,” he said. “A lot of [tenants] are restaurants or salons with a very substantial investment into those spaces, so we don’t think vacancy is going to be a big challenge for us.”
Pine Tree has been selling part of its retail portfolio in the Twin Cities this year, including Burnsville Crossing for $7 million and the Cub-anchored Forest Lake Marketplace for $15.15 million.
Krsnak said there are plans to hold onto the property for “five-ish” years and that it is a mid-length investment. He said they hope to do some faade improvements to add more “pizazz” than what was put on the building when it was built in the late 1980s.
Once the time to sell the property comes, Krsnak said Hempel is examining possibly selling the property by parcel instead of all together.
An additional freestanding building or two are also anticipated, according to Krsnak, with hopes that one or both could house a quick service restaurant.
Krsnak said that there is little multitenant construction being done in retail and the only construction that is seen in retail is single-tenant space. He doesn’t see any new construction happening that will start to compete with the space at Bergen Plaza.
Krsnak said the property was appealing because Oakdale is a strong, inner-ring suburb that is building new senior housing in the area, as well as single-family housing.
According to 2024 Washington County property tax information, the five parcels together are worth $25.8 million. This is up from 2023 when it was $23.4 million.
Hempel and Midloch’s purchase of the shopping center is a highwater mark for retail real estate sales in 2024, which otherwise have been quiet. According to a search of electronic certificates of real estate value on the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s website, there has been only three retail transactions in 2024 with a higher price tag than Bergen Plaza , including a $41.8 million Rogers Cabela’s sale from February.
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