A new city filing shows that Rochester’s former Toys ‘R’ Us won’t be used a retail site, at least in the near future.
The permit asks to “transition from a retail business to a warehouse and parking facility use.”
Neither aspect, the warehouse nor the private parking facility, will require any significant physical changes to the property. Signs will be either removed or covered.
No specific tenant for the warehouse was named in the filing. As for the parking lot, the goal is to offer 236 spaces by private contract.
The permit also states that this change will probably not be the final use for the 3.46 acre property.
The former Toys ‘R Us building in Rochester. (Ken Klotzbach/[email protected])
“Both the warehouse and parking facility uses are intended as an intermediate use until such time that the area can be redeveloped,” according to the filing.
Toys ‘R’ Us closed the Rochester store in June 2018 following the company’s bankruptcy.
The two local firms paid a $2 million down payment for the property, which Olmsted County estimates to be worth a total market value of $2.78 million for 2018-2019. The building stands on 3.46 acres, next door to a closed Bakers Square restaurant.
The once-popular toy retailer built and opened the cavernous store in 1991 on land it acquired from Lowell Penz, Dan Penz’s father.
Jeff Kiger tracks business action in Rochester and southeastern Minnesota every day in Heard on the Street. Send tips to [email protected] or via Twitter to @whereskiger. You can call him at 285-7798.
