Motorists along Highway 33 South in Cloquet have been craning their heads for the past week as excavation has gotten under way on a seven-acre wooded area adjacent to Applebee's Restaurant.
The clearing and earth work are the first steps that will pave the way for a new six-business retail center to be called "The Shoppes at Cloquet."
According to project co-developer Rick Johnson of the Cloquet Development Group, plans are for the 22,000-square-foot center to be open by spring 2008.
Johnson said negotiations are well under way for five of the six businesses in the center. To date, the only one that has been confirmed by the group is Dollar Tree, a Chesapeake, Virginia-based national chain store that will occupy approximately 9,000 square feet of the new center.
Johnson said the excavation work and footings for the new center are expected to be completed yet this fall. He described plans for the center to include steel buildings with masonry fronts.
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The development group putting together the new retail center is comprised of Johnson and one other partner, and they have been involved in similar developments in Wisconsin and South Dakota.
Johnson said the two decided to bring the center to Cloquet based on "tenant demand."
