Blazing Star Landing: City Developing Site 1 parcel at a Time

The Blazing Star Landing includes 35 acres in the central park of Albert Lea that would be prime locations for housing and commercial sites.

A meatpacking facility, owned by various companies, occupied the site from the early 1900s until a fire in 2001. The city obtained the site after Farmland Foods filed for bankruptcy in 2002. The facility and fire left behind a great deal of soil contaminated by arsenic, petroleum and other pollutants.

After seeking redevelopment of the entire 35-acre site as a whole for the past 20 years, the city is now cleaning up the site for development one parcel at a time:

• Kwik Trip is planning to build a 9,100-square-foot convenience store in the northeast corner. Two state grants are helping pay for soil cleanup and extending Eberhart Street.
• Tapestry Companies, a private developer, is planning to build 60 units of low- to moderate-income housing along Garfield Avenue on the east side of the site. The Minnesota Housing Agency recently announced $15.1 million in funding from state and federal programs for the project. The new apartment building is estimated to cost $24 million to build and would be located south of the new Kwik Trip.
• The southwest corner is already developed. After cleanup funded partially by a state grant, a private developer built the 48-unit Front Street Apartments in 2022. Some of the units qualify for rent subsidies. The value of the 3.4 acre site before development was $52,500. The current value is $2.8 million.

The city is planning to seek cleanup and development for two more parcels, each about 4 acres in size, and leave the rest of the site as greenspace.

By developing the site, the city can:

• Expand housing choices
• Offer affordable housing
• Increase the local tax base

For more information

Watch:
The Blazing Star Landing video on the city’s YouTube channel.

Contact:
Steven Jahnke
City Engineer and Public Works Director
507-377-4325