Brooklyn Center Envisions “New Downtown” at Opportunity Site
Brooklyn Center has a grand vision of creating a new downtown. It’s an envisioned downtown with new recreation, restaurants and housing options.
The Brooklyn Center Planning Commission hosted a special work session Thursday night on the city’s so-called “opportunity site.” That site is 81 acres of land bounded by Shingle Creek Parkway, Bass Lake Road, Highway 100 and Summit Drive North. The city owns about 35 acres of that land.
The city has targeted the opportunity site for redevelopment for almost 20 years now. Brooklyn Center officials see it as a place to create a new town center, surrounded by new neighborhoods.
“A new downtown area with retail. With destination recreation opportunities, some amenities, services, entertainment, restaurants,” explained Meg Beekman, Brooklyn Center’s community development director. “And some housing options. Really diversifying the city’s housing stock, creating some open space. And really creating some points of pride for the community,” she added.
Brooklyn Center’s “Opportunity Site”
Brooklyn Center officials hope to have a master plan in place by the end of this year or early next year. After that, a nine-month-long environmental review process would begin.
The city has an interested developer in Minneapolis-based Alatus. It means we could see long-awaited development proposals reach the Brooklyn Center City Council by next year.
