But North Carolina-based Lowe's has yet to confirm that it has any Twin Cities sites. Lowe's officials say they won't publicize new store locations until it closes on the land. That said, the retail has filed plans to build a store in Coon Rapids and is a favorite to be an anchor tenant for a proposed $30-million shopping center in Plymouth, according to a recently published report.
"Lowe's, being a new entrant to the market, needs to open its first stores on prime sites close to the core in order to compete successfully with the well-established Home Depot," says a new report on the retail real estate market from the Minnesota Shopping Center Association.
"With a minimum requirement of 15 to 20 acres, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find large enough sites in the metro area for big box development," according to the report. Such big-box stores typically approach or exceed 200,000 sf, according to the report.
Another hurdle for these developments is the perception among residents that theses retailers have a negative impact on the communities in terms of increased traffic, noise, unattractive architecture and a "sea of parking."
A reason for that difficulty has been the explosive growth of big-box retail itself, which has gobbled up the best sites. For example, large freestanding merchants such as Target, Kmart and Wal-Mart today make up slightly more than 11 million sf in the metropolitan area, nearly twice the 6.5 million sf only three years ago, according to Colliers Towle Turley Martin Tucker, a locally based real estate services firm.
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