In St. Paul’s Midway, ownership of the strip mall center that is home to Walmart, Cub Foods, TJ Maxx and LA Fitness has changed hands, bringing the site under the control of a Minneapolis-based development and construction company.

Kraus-Anderson Realty recently announced it purchased Midway Marketplace at University and Hamline avenues from Ohio-based RVI. The seller said it sold the 324,000-square-foot shopping center for $31 million.

“It’s a solid shopping center, and a great site, and the site’s only going to get better with the addition of the stadium,” said Jeff Hildahl, senior vice president of properties and leasing for Kraus-Anderson Realty (KA Realty).

Since at least 2015, the possibility of a Major League Soccer stadium in St. Paul’s Midway has driven a key question: Will new real estate development follow?

At University and Snelling avenues, neighborhood residents and city officials have waited to see how the future will unfold at the Midway Shopping Center, where a Rainbow grocery was torn down to make room for the new Allianz Field.

But it’s the strip mall to the east — just across Pascal Street — that represents the first significant non-residential acquisition by the private sector. The mall was built in 1994.

It’s unclear if the tenant mix at Midway Marketplace will evolve as a result of new ownership, though Hildahl said existing leases will be honored and no immediate changes are planned. In a written statement, he praised the “strong tenant mix.” As strip malls go, it’s already well-trafficked, though not entirely full, and features multiple out-lot buildings.

Those tenants include Walmart, Cub Foods, TJ Maxx, LA Fitness, Dollar Tree, Sprint, Leeann Chin, The UPS Store, Mother Nature’s Vitamins and Midway Tobacco & Cigar Place.

“Midway Marketplace is located in a dense, established market and regional retail hub surrounded by the new soccer stadium as well as six major colleges and universities between Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Hildahl said in the statement. “With its tremendous location and strong tenant mix, we expect this property to be a great asset for a long time to come.”

PARKING AND OTHER STADIUM PARTNERSHIPS

In an interview, Hildahl said KA Realty had not been in discussion about any form of joint projects with Mortenson Construction, the master developer in charge of the Midway Shopping Center and the 35-acre area that includes Allianz Field.

He acknowledged, however, that could someday change. “Any future development that they had planned is just going to bolster the area,” he said. “I don’t know that we’ve bet on it, but we’re happy to see it coming.” Related Articles St. Paul man charged in connection with gang-related drive-by shooting

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Other forms of synergy are also possible, such as renting out parking spaces at Midway Marketplace during Minnesota United games, which begin April 13. The stadium has little parking.

“We’re in the process of looking into that right now,” Hildahl said. “We’ve got some things in process. We’ve been talking about it. We’ve just got to make sure that during the games, all of our retailers have good parking access for customers who aren’t going to the games.”