Submitted graphic
Gaughan Companies is plans to construct two buildings on the outlots of the Forest Lake City Center. The planned exterior of the second building, currently undergoing the approval process, is shown here.
The outlots between the Forest Lake City Center and U.S. Highway 61 will be getting another new building this year, pending approval from the city and the Forest Lake Economic Development Authority.
Gaughan Companies, the developer of the 11,000-square-foot, three-unit building on the outlot that was announced this spring, now plans on rolling out its second phase for the outlot – a single-unit, 8,000-square-foot building north of the first structure – into the first phase’s construction timeline. If the permitting process goes according to Gaughan’s plans, a groundbreaking for both buildings would be targeted for July 1.
“Both buildings will break ground at the same time, effectively, because it’s going to be the same project,” said Dan Hebert, Gaughan project manager.
The second building will be the new Forest Lake home of Keller Williams Realty. Like the first building, this one will face the city center. The building’s site plan review was on the agenda for the Forest Lake Planning Commission’s June 10 meeting (after press time).
“They’re going to be beautiful buildings,” Hebert said. “They’re going to be brick and stone.”
Hebert noted that Gaughan plans to complete the buildings by the end of the year. Gaughan has confirmed that Thrifty White Pharmacy and Maplewood Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery are moving into the southern building, and the developer is seeking a dental user to lease the third unit.
With a few other recent projects in Forest Lake, Hebert said, the area is proving fertile ground for Gaughan. The company is in the planning stages of a affordable townhome housing development on State Highway 97, on the old Carlson farm land east of Kwik Trip.
“We’re definitely seeing the market coming back around,” Hebert said.