Garrison Keillor’s new bookstore opened April 9, and I couldn’t resist visiting the first day. I did resist the temptation to buy Keeping Chickens or The Backyard Cow, though I’m sure their insights on urban farming will make them popular in the Twin Cities. (Not that I left empty-handed: Margot Fortunato Galt’s The Circuit Writer promises great tales of writing in schools from Swanville to St. Paul.) From farm and garden to philosophy and poetry, full shelves invite bibliophiles to linger and browse in the new, above-ground location on Snelling just north of Grand Avenue. Common Ground will have a grand opening on May 1, with a week of special events.
The bookstore is not the only new business popping up in St. Paul this spring, with Lynden’s Soda Fountain and Cupcake both in the news. Also on the horizon:
- Water Tower Place on Vandalia Avenue, between I-94 and University Avenue • The nine buildings that once were Palen-Kimball headquarters and now are home to a variety of tenants ranging from the charter High School for the Recording Arts to Holzman Wood Designs were acquired by developer Peter Remes, according to Finance and Commerce:
He saw a potential deal on the buildings after a previous developer defaulted on the mortgage. Remes secured financing from Stillwater-based Central Bank to purchase the buildings from Roseville-based North Star Bank and Bloomington-based United Bankers’ Bank, which acquired the buildings through foreclosure last year.
- Plans are afoot for redevelopment of the northwest corner of University and Dale, with a design charrette last week.
- And in Highland Park, the Fairview clinic and urgent care center on Ford Parkway and the Allina/Aspen Medical group clinic (which just moved into the former Old Country Buffet site near Lunds) will be joined by Health Partners. The Pioneer Press reports that the Health Partners clinic will be in the strip mall east of Cleveland on Ford Parkway, and will open in the fall.
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