The Richfield Planning Commission has approvedthe development plan, a conditional use permit for theBest Buy campus and the rezoning of the propertylocated between 76th Street and I-494 and Knox andPenn Avenues in Richfield.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Council approved the cityu's amendment to its comprehensive plan tochange the Interchange West area from neighborhoodcommercial and high-density single-family residentialto regional commercial/office property.

"Regional and local officials understand how vital itis for first ring suburbs like Richfield to continueto attract new investment so that they continue tothrive and grow," says John Stark, Richfield communitydevelopment manager.

In January, Best Buy announced it plans to move itscorporate headquarters from Eden Prairie to Richfield.The $150-million project, which would be developed byOpus Corp. and would include 1.5 million sf ofoffice space in Interchange West, a redevelopment areanorth of I-494 between 35W and Penn Avenue.

Best Buy says it selected Richfield in order toconsolidate its corporate operations onto a singlecampus and offer a central location and mass transitoptions for its employees. The Best Buy corporatecampus is projected to employ 5,500 people uponopening in 2002.

Meanwhile, the city has begun eminentdomain action against Walser, which has, in turn, countersued, saying that the city violated the state'stax increment financing statutes in declaring theirproperty "blighted."