Cottage Grove has gone from “not” to hot.
Five years ago, it was not keeping stores open, not adding jobs or homes, not dealing with abandoned buildings.
Today, the city is going through a dramatic turnaround. Developers are building 600 new homes and apartments, and the Cottage Grove Business Park west of U.S. 61 is booming. The city’s most visible problem — empty stores — is getting fixed, and new restaurants and stores are opening.
“What this is,” Mayor Myron Bailey said, “is exciting. I am proud of my city. I am glad the citizens hung in there with us.”
The turnaround happened, officials say, because the city adopted a strategy of attracting jobs first.
Officials believed that if more employers could be lured to town, housing would follow. That’s because workers would want to live close to their jobs. And once homes popped up, stores and restaurants would follow.
That’s what happened.
The city’s morale seemed to be at a low ebb after the economic downturn of 2008, and several businesses had left town.
“The mood at that time was, ‘Why me?’ ” said Bailey. “It was very discouraging. The public had the feeling: ‘Why is this happening to us? Why can’t businesses survive here?’ ”
Jennifer Levitt, the city’s community development director, said that even when everything looked bleak, officials were trying to attract businesses. “We have been working in the background, laying down the groundwork,” she said.
TURNING POINT: LEAFLINE
Then Leafline Labs arrived. In July 2015, the medical marijuana company opened its 42,000-square-foot building in the city’s business park, bringing 35 jobs.
Leafline was a turning point, Bailey said. The company tried and failed to get a friendly reception in several communities. When it settled into Cottage Grove, Bailey said, it sent a message: This is city that welcomes businesses of all kinds.
Others have followed.
GardenWorld, a plant wholesaler, is opening a distribution center on a nine-acre site in the business park. The new 39-acre Southeast Industrial Park is being set up as a business-park-within-a-park, offering access to rail connections.
Other businesses in the park have expanded — adding hundreds of jobs. These include Renewal by Anderson, Up North Plastics, Werner Electric and American Logistics.
There are now about 600 jobs in the business park — and more on the way.
“The industrial park is an amazing success,” said city councilman Steve Dennis. “We are business-forward and business-friendly.”
MORE NEW HOMES
As officials predicted, housing has followed.
A new development will be adding 383 single-family homes — next to the business park. On May 4, the City Council approved the project, called Summer’s Landing.
Developers also are adding hundreds of new homes in the northeast part of the city. For example, steady growth is continuing in Eastridge Woods, which will ultimately have 143 homes, and the 92-lot Cayden Glen.
The housing boom has spread to senior complexes. The 184-unit, $25 million Dominium project near 80th Street and U.S. 61 has been approved by the city council.
Another senior complex has been proposed by Presbyterian Homes, said city administrator Charlene Stevens, but the application for that project has not been made.
And the growth seems to be feeding on itself — as the reputation spreads.
“The quality of life is high here,” said community development director Levitt. “When you live in Cottage Grove, you feel like you live in a unique community. You are still connected with the metro area. And we have affordability.”
HY-VEE IN, THE RUSH OUT
And after the jobs and housing come stores and restaurants.
One by one, the city’s most stubborn retail problems are getting solved.
For eight years, the Gateway North shopping area at the southeast corner of U.S. 61 and 80th Street was “my biggest heartburn,” mayor Bailey said.
It suffered from a one-two punch — the closings of Home Depot in 2008 and Rainbow Foods in 2014. The side-by-side vacancies and the acres of empty parking made the site look desolate.
Now, Hy-Vee Foods is demolishing the Rainbow building to build a new store. The economic impact of that store isn’t yet known, but an estimated 450 jobs were created by the $26 million Oakdale Hy-Vee that opened in 2015.
The Home Depot building was sold to a developer May 2 — a critical step forward in ultimately occupying the space.
That’s a particular relief, said Bailey, because several times the sale of the building seemed near — only to be scuttled at the last minute.
At one point, LA Fitness was thinking of moving into the space, and put a sign on the building. “Then some people bought an LA Fitness membership in Oakdale, thinking they would be able to use it here,” said Bailey.
It never happened.
Some neighbors still don’t believe the mall will soon be busy again. “I get calls saying, ‘Is this really the end of that empty mall?’ ” Bailey said.
Another eyesore has been eliminated: The Rush, a 30,000-square-foot roadhouse, empty since 2007. Along busy U.S. 61, the place was a civic embarrassment with mice, bursting water pipes and a partially collapsed roof.
Premier Storage LLC bought the property in September and plans a multi-building storage complex.
Other retail is sprouting across the city. Levitt said developers soon will apply for a permit to build the Junction 70 Grille at 70th Street and Hinton Avenue.
An Aldi supermarket opened in April, and a new bakery, Rivertown Cakes, is scheduled to open May 19.
“The vacancy rate for commercial property is dropping,” said Levitt. “It’s a great sign for Cottage Grove.”
More is on the way, Bailey said. He said the city is working on freeing up a 70-acre site near the Walmart on U.S. 61, as a site for more stores and offices.
“The word is out there — we are open for business,” said Bailey.