Golden Valley Explores Downtown Revamp
The city of Golden Valley is trying to reinvent itself, especially when it comes to rethinking its downtown. The city considers downtown to be the four quadrants surrounding Winnetka Avenue and Golden Valley Road.
At an open house Monday night, city officials shared ideas about what Golden Valley could look like.
“Overall, just kind of thinking about what are our needs for the downtown, such a nice entry to our city,” said Golden Valley Planning Manager Jason Zimmerman. “How do we make that a little more prominent? And as we kind of redevelop, really make it a landmark along Highway 55.”
Any redevelopment would likely include planning for the future of the Golden Valley Shopping Center.
“It’s been there since the 1950s. It’s kind of an institution in Golden Valley. I think it’s no surprise it’s probably aged and it’s a chance to do some reinvestment there. Or when the time is right, maybe there’s some phased replacement,” said Zimmerman.
The city is gathering input to develop a plan for the future. That plan will also likely include increased bicycle and pedestrian connections. Zimmerman says he’s heard a lot about trail connections because the city’s downtown area is so close to the Luce Line State Trail.
There’s no timeline on when any redevelopment could come together. Some of the early concepts pitched include a grocery store or some apartments for the Golden Valley downtown area. Zimmerman says redevelopment could occur in the next two years or the next 15 to 20.
“There’s a couple different buildings as part of that mall. It could be that when the time is right, some new uses come in and we could develop it,” he said.
