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Best Buy should build downtown
As the nation's economy has been quickly expanding for the past few years, consumers have increased their spending at an even faster rate. As a result, many retailers have grown considerably during the 1990s, and expanded their operations. Best Buy is one of the companies that have had the most significant growth, as it is now one of the top consumer electronics retailers in the nation. Currently based out of their Eden Prarie headquarters, they have recently been seeking to expand to a new location in Richfield. However, instead of perpetuating suburban office parks, they should instead build their headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.
The company intends to build a 1.5 million-square-foot campus on the corner of 494 and Penn Avenue South, assuming that its legal disputes with the land's current owner, the Walser family, are successful. The Walser family currently owns the property, which until recently was used for a car dealership. The city of Richfield has arranged for Best Buy to obtain the land through a process involving tax increment financing although the Walsers sued the city, claiming that the environmental inpact reveiw was illegal, as alternative locations were not considered. Additionally, the Walsers claim that traffic on 494 -- which is already quite congested -- would be more so than the report stated. Unfortunately, this Friday Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson ruled against the Walsers, allowing the city to condemn most of the property.
However, considering the amount of money Best Buy spent on defending itself from lawsuits, and from the difficulty of acquiring the land initially, the company could have easily afforded constructing a building in downtown Minneapolis. Typically, land in the suburbs is less expensive for office development, and this of course is preferable to companies. However, as American urban centers have illustrated during the past century of growth, there are significant expenses involved with sprawling cities, mostly involving transportation and the accomodation of automobiles. However, Best Buy certainly could have built in downtown for a cost competitive with that of the Richfield location, thus minimizing any initial savings. There are several plots that are underdeveloped in downtown Minneapolis, where only parking lots or vacant, underused buildings reside. Like Target Corp. -- which is building two skyscrapers in downtown -- Best Buy is one of Minnesota's most important companies. Instead of building in the sprawling suburbs, however, the company should have contributed to a vital downtown.
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