Plans Revealed To Improve Aging Golden Valley Shopping Center
A Golden Valley strip mall that was first built in 1953 will soon get a fresh look.
Earlier this month, Paster Properties purchased the Golden Valley Shopping Center along Highway 55 for $17.5 million. City leaders and longtime tenants say they’re excited for what lies ahead.
“This property is crucial to the success of Golden Valley’s town center,” said Emily Goellner, Golden Valley’s community and economic development director.
For more than 70 years, the Golden Valley Shopping Center has served as a hub where people could dine and shop.
Popular record store Down in the Valley is one of the anchor tenants.
“We’ve been in this mall since ’86,” said Scott Farrell, general manager of Down in the Valley. “This is our home base. We do have other locations, and have over the years, but Golden Valley is really our home.”
That said, Farrell admits their home base is in need of a little TLC.
“Let’s make this a more inviting place, a more exciting place, which I think it deserves,” Farrell said, referring to the Golden Valley Shopping Center as a whole.
Soon, he’ll get his wish.
Down in the Valley has been a tenant of the Golden Valley Shopping Center since 1986.
Plans for Golden Valley Shopping Center
Minneapolis-based developer Paster Properties purchased the shopping center on June 6. City leaders said the company has plans to renovate and revitalize the aging strip mall with exterior upgrades, new landscaping and parking lot improvements.
“It’s really exciting to see Paster Properties ready to reinvest in such an important property in our town center,” said Goellner.
With a new apartment complex under construction next to the strip mall and a new public safety building on the horizon, big changes are on the way for the city’s downtown.
“Yes it’s a very exciting time to work in Golden Valley,” Goellner said. “Our town center is going to be so much different in a number of years in all the great ways, so we’re really excited about Paster being part of our team here.”
Back at Down in the Valley, Farrell says the new owners have sought their input and shared ideas of what’s to come,
“It’s always good to freshen things up, right? And I think that’s what this will do,” Farrell said.
Ultimately, the move will help to ensure that Down in the Valley will stay in Golden Valley.
“One of the things that’s always been a worry is that some developer would grab this property and maybe just level it and we wouldn’t have a home anymore,” Farrell said. “But I can’t see us being anywhere but in the city of Golden Valley.”
The Golden Valley Shopping Center includes four buildings in all — the main strip mall; the building that houses Chipotle and Love Pizza; the Lighting Outlet Center; and the All Strings Attached music store.
Golden Valley city leaders expect some of the renovation work to begin later this summer and go into the fall.
A rendering of the Golden Valley Shopping Center after the Paster Properties renovation. Photo credit: Underhill Architects
Related: Golden Valley Leaders Continue Gathering Input About Downtown
