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Community Corner

Developers Break Ground on Marketplace and Main

Construction is set to begin in August.

Marketplace and Main is off the ground at last.

A crowd of about 30 people gathered Tuesday afternoon at the site, near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Mainstreet, for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the project.

Marketplace and Main, a mixed-use project proposed by the development firm The Beard Group, had been delayed throughout its planning process. Most recently,  held the project back.

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It will have more than 50 apartments and townhomes in addition to shops and retail space on the ground floor.

“It was kind of like giving birth, but we’re here,” said Beard Group CEO Bill Beard. “When the deal is hard and difficult, that’s when you know you have good partners.”

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One of those partners—Devean George, head of The George Group—said that construction would begin Aug. 1 and conclude sometime around September of next year.

“This is our first year getting involved with the project and [Beard] has sort of been mentoring us,” George said.

Hopkins Mayor Gene Maxwell summed up the ceremony saying, “I think this will be a great project for the city of Hopkins.”

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