A new look that city officials and developers are after for retail development on either side of Randall Road north of Fabyan Parkway could have shoppers doing a double take to check whether they made a wrong turn into an office park.
Conceptual plans released last week by Dial Corp. of Davenport, Iowa, calls for campus-style retail centers to begin dotting the landscape between Eaglebrook Drive and Fargo Boulevard.
“It’s new concept in response to the line-’em-up strip-mall development you see today,” economic development director Christine Jefferies said of the campus style. “It will bring a uniform theme to the area.”
Setting up stores in a campus layout allows for more open space, landscaping and building setbacks, she said.
The concept was introduced as Dial and city officials were announcing Saturday’s opening of the first anchor store in a strip mall the company is building on the northwest corner of Fabyan and Randall.
The city also announced that the Eagle grocery chain and McDonald’s will join Venture in the Fabyan Crossing center, the city’s first west side retail development.