Copyright Star Tribune
A $6 million movie theater revamp, new mixed-use apartments and a wave of restaurants and shops are reshaping St. Louis Park’s West End — and shaping the next generation of one of the Twin Cities’ busiest suburban hubs. With the new development over the past few years, the 49-acre district has become a bright spot in the metro’s struggling office market, with vacancy rates continually among the lowest in the Twin Cities. “It’s really one of the only live-work-play-stay markets in the Twin Cities,” said Michael Gelfman, executive vice president at Colliers. “That’s what I think adds a lot to the relevance of the West End.” While St. Louis Park lacks a traditional downtown, it is increasingly defined by a network of commercial districts, including West End, the Historic Walker Lake area and the Excelsior & Grand corridor. Together, they give the suburb an urban edge. And while suburban centers from Maple Grove to Woodbury are adding urban-style density — pairing housing with retail, offices and entertainment — the West End has quietly evolved into one of the most dynamic. Once a suburban experiment in mixed-use planning, its modern office complexes are among the most leased outside of downtown, even as many post-COVID office markets continue to struggle. Customers walk into Chi-Chi’s at the West End in St. Louis Park on Tuesday. It's the first new location of the chain's rebirth. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune) Moviegoers purchase tickets at a kiosk at Marcus West End Cinema in St. Louis Park on Tuesday. The theater is being revamped, inclusing adding recliners. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune) A tight market amid wider vacancies Although the West End lost some shops, restaurants and office tenants during the pandemic, it quickly refilled those spaces — a sharp contrast to downtown Minneapolis, where vacant commercial space has been far harder to backfill. The district’s top-tier offices now post the metro’s highest occupancy rates, reflecting how tenants have gravitated toward newer, amenity-rich spaces. As of the third quarter of 2025, only 12.8% of West End offices were vacant — the lowest rate of any major corridor — compared with 30.8% downtown and 22.1% across the metro, according to Colliers. Gelfman said the area’s success underscores how work habits and lifestyle preferences have shifted, with employees and employers alike drawn to the West End’s convenience and walkable amenities. Developers keep betting on the suburb Hempel Real Estate, which purchased the Shops at West End in 2022, is moving forward with plans for two new mixed-use projects in and around the retail district. The Eden Prairie-based company is one of several developers reshaping the West End through a steady wave of acquisitions, redevelopments and new construction. The company recently broke ground on the Terasă development at 5401 Gamble Drive, the former site of a West End Office Park building across from Punch Bowl Social. The six-story, 223-unit project will feature 21,000 square feet of commercial space anchored by a grocery store, with major construction expected to begin in early 2026. City documents describe Terasă as the first phase of a potential multiphase redevelopment of the broader West End Office Park. Hempel's Terasă development will be a six-story, 223-unit project and feature 21,000 square feet of commercial space anchored by a grocery store. Hempel is also exploring the redevelopment of a vacant corner within the Shops at West End, where preliminary plans call for ground-floor retail topped by four to six stories of office space, according to city filings. “It’s where the suburbs meet the urban core,” said Ben Krsnak, Hempel’s executive vice president. “It’s that sweet spot of density — where you’ve got traffic, income and people all in one area.” Krsnak said Hempel’s second-floor office space in the district is fully leased. He considers the center to have three key anchors: the Cub Foods grocery store, Marcus West End Cinema and the restaurants that line the property. “People are looking for a walkable environment,” he said. “At West End, we’ve got 13 restaurants on site, so there’s a lot of choice. Plus the grocery store. It’s all right there.”
