Year in Review 2012: Business

Hopkins is closing out 2012 with a different landscape than it began the year with. Long-vacant sites are being remade, and new businesses are on their way—or up and running. Here's a look at the biggest Hopkins business stories of 2012.

Affordable Services at New Animal Hospital Keep Pets With Families

Melanie Sharpe has been a veterinarian since 2001 and has spent most of that time working with shelters. In August, though, she opened Mission Animal Hospital at 4338 Shady Oak Road on the Hopkins-Minnetonka border. While working for shelters, she saw many families struggling to keep their pets. Her goal is to offer critical services at a reasonable price.

Minnetonka-based Solomon Real Estate Group announced in October that Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Bruegger’s Bagels—along with a Sprint store and another Fantastic Sams—would be moving into a new retail center planned for the old BP site at 525 Blake Road N.

Mediterranean Grill a Possibility in Boston Garden Site

Twin Cities chef Bill Ansari told Patch in December that he plans to open Adam Basha Café: American Mediterranean Grill and Bakery at 1019 Mainstreet, the site of Boston Garden. A few days later, Boston Garden co-owner Felix Kerawala said he’s far from reaching a deal that would allow Ansari to open the grill.

• Mediterranean Grill and Bakery to Open in Boston Garden Space
• Boston Garden Owner: Mediterranean Restaurant No Sure Thing

Marketplace & Main Celebrates Opening With Ribbon Cutting

The Beard Group’s mixed-use development at Seventh Avenue and Mainstreet certainly faced its share of hurdles. But just a couple months after first welcoming renters, it has nearly filled all its units. The building has just four units left for rent—an occupancy rate well in excess of 90 percent.

Extended Hours Day Care Aims to Serve Blake Road Residents

In July, Family Resources and Child Care Center withdrew its application to build a controversial day care center at Excelsior and Blake—citing a traffic study and neighborhood opposition that the day care says used the study as a pretext to kill the project. The St. Paul-based company fared better in the fall, though, when it won approval for a facility at 126 Blake Road N.

• Traffic Study May Kill Controversial Excelsior Boulevard Day Care
• Owners Withdraw Excelsior Boulevard Day Care Application
• Controversial Day Care Center Resurrected on Blake Road

Mayon Plastics Building Gets a Makeover

Minneapolis-based Swervo Development Corp. removed the west side of the old Mayon Plastics building over the summer as part of a project that will leave the building with 10,800 square feet of retail space—room for up to seven retailers in the building.

• Developer Takes Another Stab at Restoring Mayon Plastics Building
• Demolition is Underway at Mayon Site
• What Do You Think of The New Mayon Plastics Building?

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Be sure to check out the entire series, published on the following dates:

•  Dec. 26: Most-Read Stories
• Dec. 27: Crime
• Dec. 30: Business
• Dec. 31: Schools
• Jan. 1: Politics and Elections
• Jan. 2: Government