Dec. 19, 2019

A 180-acre east-side property has a new owner who plans to start building next year.

Signature Cos. has purchased the property along Arrowhead Parkway between Dawley Farm Village and Willow Run Golf Course.

The site was home to Arndt’s Wreck-King for decades before it was cleared and mitigated in the early 2000s.

“It’s a larger piece, but it’s really an in-fill piece, and we’re excited to be able to take the property to the next phase,” said Signature owner Clint Ackerman.

He’s calling the development Willows Edge and envisions a mix of residential, office and neighborhood retail.

He plans to start with starter homes and an apartment complex of 300 to 400 units. Once the property is rezoned, dirt will start moving in the spring in conjunction with reconstruction of Arrowhead Parkway.

The land itself has been eyed by developers for decades, including a Minneapolis firm that wanted to bring big-box retail and a lifestyle center feel to it. When that didn’t take shape, the land ended up back with the Nelson family, who had owned it previously.

Ackerman doesn’t see it as a site for much national retail, he said.

“We’re looking for a gas station, office users and smaller strip malls to fill in the pieces in between (the housing),” he said.

While it took nearly two decades to find the right buyer, the current plan is a solid one, said Ryan Tysdal of Van Buskirk Cos., who had the property co-listed with Joel Ingle of Harr-Lemme Real Estate.

“Clint Ackerman and Signature Cos. have a reputation of being able to execute developments like this very well. He was an ideal buyer,” Tysdal said.

“I’m already in conversations with office and commercial buyers looking for sites in this area. We expect to have shovel-ready sites in late-2020. “This site has marquee visibility from Arrowhead Parkway, and it’s unique in that the development extends nearly an entire mile from Dawley Farm Village to Willow Run Golf Course. It’s really exciting to finally see this area developed.”

Neighborhoods near retail developments continue to have strong demand, Ingle said.

“Being 60 seconds away from Target or a restaurant or a movie theater is attractive to families when choosing a place to live,” he said