Retail center on hold as another expands; Burger King coming to Hermantown

Plans to build Platinum Plaza, a new strip mall across from Miller Hill Mall, are on hold. But the developer’s other major project - Sugar Maple Crossing - is taking off.
Construction has begun on a two-building expansion of the retail center at Miller Trunk Highway and Sugar Maple Drive in Hermantown, about 4 miles northwest of Miller Hill Mall.
When it is completed next spring, the center will total 27,300 square feet.
With the expansion of Sugar Maple Crossing, the developers - Stevie Paulson and Joe Peterson - have put Platinum Plaza on the shelf for now.
The proposed $5.5 million retail hub planned for the brushy hillside along Miller Trunk Highway across from Miller Hill Mall, was supposed to begin construction last summer.
Paulson said they needed to have 40 percent to 50 percent of the 24,000-square-foot retail space committed to by tenants. The center is expected to hold 10-14 businesses.
“We have tenants ready to sign a lease,” Paulson said. “But we need a certain number first. Two is not enough.” So they’re first focusing on expanding Sugar Maple Crossing.
“We’ll start working on (Platinum Plaza) when this one’s done,” he said.
First up for the Sugar Maple Crossing expansion is a 5,000-square-foot standalone building that began construction two weeks ago. It will house a Burger King by the end of the year. And, if negotiations are successful, it will also house a pizza restaurant that’s part of a national chain not currently in Hermantown, Paulson said.
Sioux Falls-based Tom Walsh Jr., who owns the Burger King restaurants in the Twin Ports, is behind this Burger King, too. The site’s lack of competition from other fast food burger restaurants was a plus, acknowledged Ryan McAnulty, director of the Twin Ports’ Burger Kings.
“It’s really a growing area, and Hermantown is a growing community, and we want to be part of that,” he said.
Sugar Maple Crossing’s existing 8,300-square foot building houses CrossFit and Fastenal. The long-awaited Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is on track to open there in early October. And Country Financial is expected to move into the remaining space.
A 14,000-square-foot addition is planned for that building, nearly tripling its size. The site’s excavation work should start in two weeks, Paulson said.
Its new tenants will include Enventis Telecom, which will move its downtown Duluth office and downtown staff of 33 to its new 11,000-square-foot space next spring. The company, which offers broadband services, will also move its warehouse from the Duluth Airpark to the new site, which is close to its fiber network.
The developers are in talks with Starbucks, Caribou Coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts to fill some of the remaining space in that enlarged building.
“Whoever jumps first gets it,” Paulson said.
Enventis is relocating to Hermantown because its lease is up and its current landlord, Minnesota Power, needs the downtown space at 21 W. Superior St., said Dan Beddow, an Enventis spokesman.
“We had to find a new home,” he said. “After a search of more than a year, we ended up here.”
Minnesota Power spokeswoman Amy Rutledge, said Enventis has been “a great, long-time tenant.” But Minnesota Power’s call center recently moved to their building. And Allete Clean Energy, a subsidiary of parent company Allete, has outgrown its current space at Minnesota Power’s general office building across the street.
Starting with five employees two years ago, Allete Clean Energy has more than doubled its office staff, resulting in a need for more space to accommodate its growth, she said, adding that no other tenants should be affected.
Mike Lundstrom, president of the Hermantown Chamber of Commerce, applauded Sugar Maple Crossing’s expansion and Enventis’ planned relocation to Hermantown, bringing nearly 35 “living wage jobs” with it.
“This development is an indication of the growth happening in Hermantown,” he said during a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday. “A wave of development is happening up Highway 53. This is one of the anchors that will make it happen.”
Sugar Maple Crossing shares the intersection with a new Kwik Trip store opening in a couple of weeks. Northern Tool & Equipment and Bullyan RV are on the other corners.
“This is going to be a major intersection,” Hermantown Mayor Wayne Boucher said. “And the businesses that have been here a long time and have invested in the community are going to benefit from the growth.”