Scoop: Trader Joe's being courted for Ingersoll Avenue redevelopment

Trader Joe's is among about a dozen retailers being courted for an Ingersoll Avenue redevelopment project, Jake Christensen, president of Christensen Development, tells Axios.

Why it matters: Multi-year improvement projects are helping the district reemerge as a retail hub.

• "For the first time in a long time we have a shot at tenants like that," Christensen said of Trader Joe's, the national grocery chain.

Details: The leases of OfficeMax and Dollar General near 28th Street and Ingersoll Ave. expire in 2025. They won't be renewed so owner Ingersoll Properties Group, of which Christensen is a partner, can pursue redevelopment.

• The site where Christensen hopes to attract a Trader Joe's was a Hinky Dinky grocery store in the 1960s and was later a Hy-Vee.

Of note: Trader Joe's is looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country for potential new locations but has not confirmed one in DSM, spokesperson Nakia Rohde tells Axios.

Zoom in: The property has roughly 32,000 square feet and can accommodate between one to three businesses.

• A big-box retailer is among the businesses interested in the site, Christensen says.

The intrigue: A section of the property abuts a former Howard Johnson, which Christensen is redeveloping into the MoLo boutique hotel, a $22 million project.

• And an adjacent office building at 2515 Grand Avenue is being renovated into a neighborhood restaurant.

🥖 Separately, a former Jimmy John's near 28th and Grand Ave. opens later this month as Nadia's French Bakery, Christensen says.