HomeMy WebLinkAboutOffer to Minneapolis for Weber Woods
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications & Technology Services Director
Phone 952-833-9520 • Fax 952-826-0389 • www.EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edina, St. Louis Park make offer for ‘Weber Woods’
Edina, Minn., Dec. 23, 2014 – In an effort to keep the land as open space, the cities of Edina and St. Louis
Park have made an offer to the City of Minneapolis to purchase a property at 40th Street and France Avenue
known to some Edina residents as “Weber Woods.”
The property at 3940 France Ave. is owned by the City of Minneapolis and sits across the Edina-St. Louis Park
border, with the northern third in St. Louis Park and the southern two-thirds in Edina. The property is
currently a wooded lot that contains a Minneapolis waterworks building. In addition, a small portion of the
property is used for ball fields at Minikahda Vista Park in St. Louis Park.
Minneapolis has owned the property since the 1920s and determined in 2012 that it no longer needs it. It
raised the question of selling the property to Edina and St. Louis Park in 2012. This fall, both cities began
talking about and analyzing the property and consulting with appraisers after Minneapolis indicated it may be
willing to sell the land for private development.
“As a result of the neighborhood meetings and other input we have received, which included participation by
Minneapolis residents, each Council’s own analysis and the long history of public ownership of this parcel, it is
clear that the use of the property should continue as it is today,” wrote St. Louis Park Mayor Jeff Jacobs and
Edina Mayor Jim Hovland in a Dec. 19 letter to Minneapolis officials with the purchase offer.
Edina and St. Louis Park have offered $1.074 million for the land. The amount is based on the mid-point
between the Minneapolis appraisal of $1.458 million assuming development of the site and recent appraisals by
Edina and St. Louis Park indicating a value of $690,000 if the site is left as park and open space. The purchase
price will be apportioned between Edina and St. Louis Park based on the portion of property in each city.
“Edina and St. Louis Park feel this is an extremely fair offer,” the letter states. “It allows Minneapolis to
receive substantial compensation, while at the same time continuing the property in public use for the benefit
of its residents without any ongoing liability or responsibility for maintenance and upkeep.”
Neither Edina nor St. Louis Park has received an official response to the offer. Officials from the two
communities look forward to continued dialogue with Minneapolis about the proposed purchase.
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