Kiger's Notebook

Appeals Court reverses ruling on Rochester Buffalo Wild Wings dispute

The owners of Rochester's Crossroads Shopping Center feel vindicated by a  Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling in their favor in a long-running battle over a proposed Buffalo Wild Wings.

"I've always said, 'If anyone in the courts follow the law, we'll win,'" says Bob Meek, who owns Crossroads with Vic Scott. "It gives me faith that the judicial system is functioning properly. I was starting to have my doubts."

After losing three battles at the planning commission, the Rochester City Council and then in Olmsted County District Court, Crossroads won the legal war in the end.

Monday's ruling reversed a June ruling by Olmsted County Judge Nancy Buytendorp that dismissed Crossroads' lawsuit against BWW owner Graf Enterprises and the city of Rochester.

The dispute was over the city's approval of  Rochester businessman Tom Graf's plan to build a 7,000-square-foot Buffalo Wild Wings in the lot in front of the Crossroads center. Graf introduced the development plan in 2011, when he purchased Pannekoeken Huis restaurant, demolished it and then filed to build his second Rochester BWW on the site.

"We are extremely disappointed in the appellate court ruling," Graf said Monday afternoon.

What does this mean for his plans to build a second Buffalo Wild Wings and his ownership of the land surrounded by Crossroads property?

"We are taking a look at our options," he said.

Parking is at the heart of this dispute . The city-approved plan called for 55 parking spaces — 35 on Graf's plot of land and 20 spaces in the surrounding Crossroads parking lot.

That calculation was made with the understanding that the proposed restaurant is part of the business center. Otherwise the proposed restaurant would require 88 parking spaces.

The Crossroads owners long have said that the city ordinances were not being followed and that the plan took their property away and gave it to Graf for his use.

"For a developer and a shopping center, excess parking is money in the bank," said Meek.

In the appeals court ruling, the judges sided with Crossroads' position, writing "Because Crossroads' protectable right to the parking spaces on its property is placed in jeopardy by the city's actions, Crossroads has standing, its claim is ripe and the district court erred by dismissing the claim on justiciability grounds."

The ruling stated that the city staff did not follow Rochester's own ordinances in regards to what is part of a business center and if Graf had enough control of the Crossroads' parking spaces to warrant allowing him to use 22 of them.

City Attorney Terry Adkins said that the ruling means that the city planning department will now need to "strictly" apply the ordinances.

For his part, Meek said he was relieved to have the case resolved after so long, though he still feels it should not have played out the way it did.

"I think it is terrible that a private party like us had to spend so much on a lengthy case just to prove the city wasn't following their own rules," he said.

Flurry of activity at forlorn, orphan lot

So a sharp-eyed reader recently spotted a crew quickly putting up a security fence around the forlorn and often forgotten parking lot without a development, Willow Creek Market at south 48th Street, across U.S. 63 from Shoppes on Maine.

After about six or seven years without any activity, a new fence definitely caught my attention.

When checking it out, i.e. snooping, I spotted some new cars parked in a corner of the lot. When I realized that all of the vehicles were made by Mercedes, the light bulb finally clicked on over my head and this thought bubble soon joined it.

"Hhhmmm... the new Mercedes of Rochester dealership that is getting close to opening across the highway still has its lot full of construction machines. But they would need to be bringing in inventory to prepare for the opening…"

It seems a safe bet that Mercedes is staging its cars on the lonesome orphan lot, while construction wraps up.

Temporary or not, the activity seems positive for the site. Rochester's Hamilton Real Estate is the listing the property these days.

A window on Mayo Clinic's business accelerator plans

It is getting close to the big reveal of the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator in the City of Rochester's Minnesota BioBusiness Center.

The plan, as I understand it, is to announce the new tenants - possibly eight - in the 2,500-square-foot center at RAEDI's annual meeting on Thursday. Remember this new twist on a business incubator is designed to house early biotech start-ups as well as venture capitalists. The tenant names have been kept hidden from anyone outside of Mayo Clinic and the usual insider crowd of public figures.

And yet this morning, a couple of venture capitalist firms' names are as clear as glass as being part of this private/public project.

Sanderling Ventures and Versant Ventures are up on the window, along with Mayo Clinic Ventures, the City of Rochester and RAEDI.

The California-based firm has a lot of experience working with Mayo Clinic and Mayo-related companies, like Torax and Naviscan.

I don't know as much as about Versant Ventures, but it is also based in California. However, it also has an office in Minneapolis.

Here's some background on the accelerator:

Mayo Clinic is giving $100,000 to turn the unused space, which is owned by the city, into offices. RAEDI will handle the management and leasing of the space.

HGA, which was the architect firm for the building, handled designs for this space. Lots of glass walls, I hear. Rents are expected to range from $13 to $15 per square foot.

Shoppes on Maine poised for growth as Mercedes readies for opening

While downtown and the northwest quadrant of the city have been seeing a lot of action in recent months, one shouldn't forget southwest Rochester.

The sprawling Shoppes on Maine commercial development on Rochester's South Broadway may not be exploding with growth, but it seems to be bubbling along.

It was car dealership Rochester Toyota that first put what was an empty field on the map in 2006. And now another dealership, Mercedes-Benz of Rochester, is gearing up to hit the gas again for the area that I once labeled as "Rochester 2.0." Yeah, I know… Sometimes I'm a little over dramatic. Heh.

Anyway, look for the lights to go on inside the shiny glass walls, and the doors of the dealership to open in late March.

That should bring in more traffic to that area and, in turn, attract the interest of more businesses.

Look for Cherry Berry frozen yogurt to sweeten the deal as a new franchise should start serving in the strip center in front of Lowe's. It will be next to Portrait Innovations, which is a photo studio that is going strong since opening in 2008. I recently messed up and misreported that it wasn't open. It is very open and seems pretty busy, too. I'm sorry about that.

Miracle Ear is also very active in the Minnesota Lakes Dental building. It recently moved out of the Sears store in Apache Mall to join the Shoppes on Maine mix.

Of course, there have been some places, such as the more than 30,000-square-foot Best Buy store and the nearby Mattress Firm store, that have emptied recently.

However, one of my sharp-eyed spies let me know last week that the "For Lease" sign has been taken off of the ex-Best Buy, and lights were on inside.

Does that mean a deal is starting to surge to plug in a new business there? I'm not sure, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Spa spin-off is open after extreme makeover

Essence Med Spa, a spin-off of the original Essence Skin Clinic, is open for business in downtown Rochester at 23 Second St. S.W. in the former Odd Fellows building.

While construction crews are still putting the final finishing touches on the massive renovation project, owner Jennifer Sanneman opened the new Essence last week at corner of Second Street and First Avenue S.W.That's the spot by the legendary Eagle Drug Store, where Think Mutual Savings Bank used to have a branch.

Essence offers services such as permanent cosmetics, laser hair removal, chemical peels, liposuction, one-hour "face lifts," tattoo removal, Botox and other skin-related treatments.

Though it is only few blocks away from the first Essence, this location will allow Sanneman and her staff to better serve Mayo Clinic employees and patients as well as others who work downtown, she says.

 The plan is to focus on less invasive services, such as Botox, filler, facials and massages at the Med Spa. The more intensive and time-consuming procedures, like liposuction and skin re-surfacing, will be the emphasis at the original Broadway clinic.

During an earlier interview, she said, "It's just better to have two. We really love this space."

Of hot dogs and hotels

It weighs five tons, is 11 feet tall, is 27 feet long and has four wheels.

What is it? The most famous food-shaped vehicles in history, of course, the Wienermobile. The iconic vehicle that is as recognizable as the Batmobile, Bigfoot or the Mystery Machine is rolling along the Med City's streets yet again.

Very early this morning (the Daylight Savings switch had me out a lot later or earlier than usual. Heh.), I spotted massive fiberglass hot dog proudly parked across Second Street Southwest from Saint Marys Hospital.

Even more interesting than the brightly-colored vehicle was the hotel sign at 1211 Second St. S.W.

In a column last week, I teased that a Med City hotel was looking at making a change. That seems to have happened, since the sign over the Oscar Mayer car says Aspen Suites instead of Staybridge Suites.

The 83-suite hotel, along with the Fiksdal Hotel, is owned by Blue Stem Capital of Sioux Fall, S.D., and Glen Fiksdal of Rochester.

I guess I should stop hotdogging and give them a call to find out the details.

 

Clothes Mentor hopes to start selling soon

The Med City's latest women's used clothing shop is stocking up for its upcoming opening.

Look for Clothes Mentor to start selling gently used clothing, designer handbags and other items at its new Rochester store at 3851 Marketplace Drive N.W. on Nov. 15, says owner Stacey Kollasch.

That date puts the store in that retail sweet spot on the calendar that is after the presidential election, but before Thanksgiving. The store is open now. However, it is just buying clothes for now. Sales will begin on Nov. 15.

"We've been getting a lot of good things coming in the door. We've a ton of designer purses," says Kollasch.

Clothes Mentor pays cash on the spot for used women's clothing. It focuses on clothing that's two years old or less and then it re-sells for about a third of what it was priced when new.

Some eager shoppers are already preparing for the opening sales day by pinpointing where exactly their favorite pieces are located in the store to map their plan of "attack."

While many racks and shelves in the 3,500-square-foot space are full of clothes, Kollasch and store manager Rachel Prickett say they would still like to beef up their stock in these weeks before starting to sell.

"The more we have, the better," she says.

The store, which is near Target North where Erik's Bike Shop used to be located, should be more easy to spot soon. Kollasch hopes that the large Clothes Mentor sign will go up over the door yet this week.

Calif. tech firm pulls plug on Med City facility

A California tech firm recently pulled out of Rochester, after having an development lab here since 2006.

PMC-Sierra, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor maker, recently closed down its more than 8,500-square-foot facility at 3555 Ninth St. N.W. It moved into that space in 2010 and had about 20 employees working there at that time.

It is not know exactly when the Med City location closed up shop or even exactly why it closed. PMC-Sierra responded to questions with a brief statement attributed to Ron May, director of corporate marketing communications.

"The PMC Rochester facility opened in 2006 and our Adaptec acquisition in 2010 facilitated ending the project for which the site was originally opened; relocation assistance to our Colorado Springs facility or severance and job search assistance was offered to all remaining engineering employees."

It is unclear how the $34 million purchase of the "channel storage" division of a company like Adaptec impacted the Rochester site. PMC-Sierra spent at least $250,000 in November 2010 to build out the Ninth Street facility. It acquired Adaptec seven months prior to that.

Prior to the 2010 move, PMC-Sierra's Med City location had previously been based at 3605 U.S. 52 North in what used to be called the IBM White Buildings.

When asked what was driving its expansion in Rochester two years ago, PMC-Sierra released this statement:

 "... A large pool of experienced and talented individuals who have the technical expertise to work on PMC’s semiconductor solutions."

It is worth noting that PMC-Sierra was collaborating with IBM at that time  on "a multi-core, multi-threaded RAID solution" at that time. The resulting maxRAID device was used in Big Blue's new System x EXA servers.

While many details are not known, it is clear that PMC-Sierra has followed in the footsteps of other technology firms like JDS Uniphase and Celestica. It has definitely pulled the plug on its presence in Rochester.

New kids place for parties, toys to be off and running soon

Peg Arnold is surrounded by toys these days, but she's not playing around.

Arnold, who with her husband Wally Arnold is a driving force behind the annual Med City Marathon, is launching a toy store and kids party place called Child's Kingdom in northwest Rochester.

After working at the Running Room for years, why is she lacing up her own shop to chase around children?

"I've always enjoyed working with kids," she says. "It is kind of a niche we are trying to fill to give parents another option for parties."

The 2,000-square-foot store will carry a wide variety of toy lines including American Girl, Erector sets, Groovy Girls, games, dress-up costumes and other "classic" toys. It is located at 621 North Broadway in the River Center Plaza shopping center.

While some assembly is still required, Arnold hopes to open the doors of Child's Kingdom this weekend for a soft opening, with an official grand opening event on Nov. 14.

Beyond toys, the shop also has a party room to host theme birthdays and other celebrations. Arnold says she'll meet with the kids to determine what kind of theme will best fit them. The children will also choose games and crafts to have at the party.

"We do it all, when it comes to the party," she says. "By having it here, parents won't have to clean up their house just to get it dirty again."

Kids will also be able to sign up for an online gift registry that will show possible present choices. People will be able to come in the store to buy the gifts or order them online, which Arnold thinks will be a good option for long-distance relatives.

Choosing to open her new place in the River Center Plaza was child's play, she says.

"Having the (Minnesota) Children's Museum here is a big draw," Arnold says.

Glimpse of the past as Broadway biz gets facelift

Downtown Broadway caught a brief glimpse of Rochester's past as a long-time business started working on a new, updated look this week. Construction crews started working on the facade of Kathy’s Pub at 307 S. Broadway Thursday. As the green Kathy's awning was taken down, they uncovered the old Hollywood Bar neon sign.

The Hollywood was one of Rochester's most venerable nightspots going back at least to the 1940s. It was known for its 90-foot-long bar that was staffed by an "all-girl" crew. Offering live music six nights a week, it was the home venue for the local music legends, the Parrish Brothers band.

It later became Kathy's Pub with Kathy and Gus Chafos as the owners. Matt Murphy and Matt Teal bought it in 2003, but kept the Kathy's name.

Murphy says the classic Hollywood sign that dates back to Rochester's "Mad Men" days has been put into storage for the winter, while it is decided what to ultimately do with it.

Meanwhile, the entire front facade of Kathy's is getting a face-lift from the sidewalk all the way up to parapets by the rooftop patio.

"We're going to restore it back to the old look," says Murphy. "The bricks will get cleaned. It'll get fresh paint. They are restoring the parapets. And a new, updated awning is coming."

The hope is to finish the renovation work within about a month. A facade improvement grant from the Rochester Downtown Alliance is paying for half of the $30,000 project.

A new neon glow is in the works to light up Kathy's sometime next year. Murphy says Schad Tracy Signs is working on a new design that will look similar one at The Griffin Cocktail Lounge in Las Vegas. Look for that project to come to light in the spring.