The week of Oct. 9, the city's update on Ridgedale Drive said brick pavers had started going in, the new signal system was finished, and crews were laying sod and putting up signs. The next week's schedule was milling, asphalt paving and striping. In about two weeks, a burger chain opens a short walk from the mall. A restaurant that spent nearly 27 years around Ridgedale has already closed its doors. A winery-restaurant was last publicly reported at the concept stage, back in June.
Those are three separate business decisions. They all come back to one change that has been building around Ridgedale Center for most of a decade. Much of the land that used to be parking is now apartments and a public park, and this fall is the first time that change has visibly decided which businesses stay.
Where the Parking Went
Mall-area parking has been changing one project at a time, not all at once.
The first big one was the six-story building at 12421 Ridgedale Drive, now Avidor Minnetonka. The city's project page says it took part of an existing parking lot for 168 age-restricted apartments and set aside 1.31 acres for park use. The developer's records show construction starting in January 2019 and finishing in September 2020.
A few doors down at 12501 Ridgedale Drive, a vacant restaurant and its lot made way for The Luxe, a four-story building with 77 apartments. Its 2020 announcement set a May opening that year.
Then in June 2023 came Ridgedale Commons at 12590 Ridgedale Drive. The city described it as a two-acre public space with a plaza, a lawn, an interactive fountain, event space and a park building.
Taken together, these two buildings put 245 homes on land that used to be parking or a parking-dependent restaurant. A two-acre park sits next to them. The city's long-range plan for the district goes further and lists structured and surface parking among its future development targets, along with uses such as hotel rooms.
The Restaurant That Named the Problem
Redstone American Grill closed its Minnetonka restaurant in early September. Bring Me The News reported that the company announced it on social media and gave parking as a main reason. Its director of operations told the outlet:
"We had every intention of staying in Minnetonka long-term, but parking continues to be a challenge for our guests."
The same report, drawing on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, said parking around Ridgedale had gotten complicated over the past nine years. Developments took over some lot space, and the priority shifted toward moving surface parking into structures. The Star Tribune's restaurant roll call also attributed the closing partly to parking problems tied to nearby development.
Redstone first opened near Ridgedale Center in 1999, at a different location, and spent 27 years in the area across two sites. Its Eden Prairie and Maple Grove restaurants are still open. Staff were offered jobs with the same hours at those locations. No public plan for the empty building has come out yet, and none of the coverage named a next tenant.
What Opens, and When
Shake Shack is coming to 1809 Plymouth Road, near the mall. The date has moved. The city's liquor license notice in late August said it would open in September. The Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber now lists a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with doors opening at 10 a.m. that day. As of today, Oct. 21 is the most current date anyone has published.
Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant is a longer wait. On June 8, the City Council gave feedback on the restaurant's concept plan, and the city explains that concept review comes before a formal application. Bring Me The News reported in June that the proposal was for Ridgedale, that it still needed formal council approval, and that neither the space nor an opening date had been set. The city's recap of the Oct. 5 council meeting doesn't mention it. The most recent public status we found is that June concept stage.
Inside the mall, Ridgedale Center lists Rowan, an ear-piercing and jewelry shop, as "Coming Soon" in the Lower Level Center Court and says opening details will follow.
| Business | Where | Status as of Oct. 10, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Shake Shack | 1809 Plymouth Road | Opening at 10 a.m. Oct. 21, per the Chamber |
| Redstone American Grill | Near Ridgedale Center | Closed; reported Sept. 4 |
| Cooper's Hawk | Ridgedale, site not set | Concept feedback June 8; no later public update found |
| Rowan | Ridgedale Center, Lower Level Center Court | Listed as coming soon, no date posted |
The Roadwork Is Part of the Same Story
The construction drivers have been working around this fall belongs to the same rebuild. The city's Ridgedale Drive and Cartway Lane improvement project started Sept. 21 with a mid-October finish target. Brick pavers, new signals and new turf are street-level work, the kind that makes the district easier to walk.
Nearby, MnDOT began signal and pedestrian-accessibility work on July 13 at Plymouth Road, Ridgedale Drive and I-394, and the Sun Sailor reported it was expected to run through October. That intersection is the approach to the new Shake Shack, so the restaurant and the finished roadwork should land within days of each other.
A little farther south, the Cedar Lake Road project reopened the road Aug. 28, and the city declared the project complete Sept. 18. The next big disruption is on Excelsior Boulevard. Utility relocation and burying overhead power lines between Williston Road and Highland Road/Whited Avenue are planned for this fall, and road construction follows in phases in 2027 and 2028.
A Short Detour Down Cedar Lake Road
The newly finished Cedar Lake Road now has a new reason to drive it. Ichigo Cafe opened Oct. 1 at 10988 Cedar Lake Road S. The Star Tribune describes it as a Minnetonka branch of the Eat Street Crossing cafe, serving Tokyo-style crepes and Japanese sweets. The cafe's own site lists Japanese soufflé pancakes, mille-crepe cakes, coffee, matcha and boba with the crepes. As of the Star Tribune's Oct. 5 roundup, it was the only confirmed new Minnetonka opening in the past few weeks besides the Shake Shack on its way.
Using the Commons This Season
All that parking became a park, and the park has become where the city holds its Ridgedale-area events. On Aug. 8, the city put on a Summer in the Commons carnival at Ridgedale Commons. Last year's Light up the Commons was held Dec. 6, 2025. The city hasn't posted a 2026 date yet, so check its calendar as December gets closer.
Until then, here is what's on the city calendar in other parts of town over the next four weeks:
- Oct. 17, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Jigsaw Jamboree at the Minnetonka Community Center, 14600 Minnetonka Blvd. Registration is required.
- Oct. 21, 10 a.m.: Shake Shack opens at 1809 Plymouth Road.
- Oct. 30, 5 to 7:30 p.m.: Burwell Spooktacular on the Burwell House grounds, 13209 E. McGinty Road.
- Nov. 7, 1 to 3 p.m.: A Native American Heritage Month event with Anton Treuer at the Minnetonka Community Center. The city says more details are coming.
The empty Redstone building and the Cooper's Hawk proposal are the two Ridgedale items still unresolved, and none of the coverage we found gives a timeline for either.
If you own a home near Ridgedale and are wondering how the new apartments, the Commons and this fall's changes affect your property's value, Renée Wilson is glad to walk through it with you. Request a personal home valuation or schedule a consultation. She has followed this corner of Minnetonka through more than three decades of change.
