Edina City Council — Transcript
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Minnesota Highway 62 Pedestrian Bridge Replacement
Opus Group Headquarters Development Proposal
Tribute to Coach Willard 'Ike' Iola
Black History Month Recognition
Votes (2)
Opus Group Headquarters Development - 5100 Eden Avenue
Opus Group presented a sketch proposal to demolish the existing four-story office building and construct a new 112,000 square foot five-story office building with potential ground-floor retail or restaurant space. The proposal replaces a previous 2023 preliminary-approved residential and retail plan. City Council members provided non-binding feedback on the sketch. The project requires rezoning, variances or planned unit development approval, and site plan/subdivision review. The developer emphasized that the office use would create daytime activity to support local businesses and create a vibrant mixed-use node complementing recent residential development in the area.
Tribute to Coach Willard 'Ike' Iola - Community Recognition
The City of Edina honored the passing of legendary boys hockey coach Willard 'Ike' Iola at age 92. Coach Iola served as Edina High School boys hockey coach from 1958 to 1991, compiling 616 career victories, eight state championships, and six Minnesota High School Hockey Coach of the Year awards. He led the U.S. Olympic hockey team to a silver medal. The program featured archival interviews and testimonials from former players and colleagues highlighting his coaching philosophy emphasizing discipline, hard work, positive motivation, and his foundational role in establishing Edina's hockey tradition. The community acknowledged his lasting legacy through the statue at Braemar Arena and his influence on youth hockey development.
Notable Quotes (6)
We're at about 30% design for this pedestrian bridge and we're at a point where a fabricator will be able to help us estimate the true cost of the project. We have a $6 million budget and we want to ensure that we stay within the budget.
A key point of having a fabricator is they will better be able to estimate the cost to do that work—how are we going to transport it, how are we going to bring it to the site, and then eventually install it over an active highway on Highway 62.
We think this site is uniquely suited to office development and given the recent residential development in this area, we think balancing that with an office use which puts daytime users in the area who can also be patronizes of the local businesses—we think it's just going to make this a much more vibrant mixed use node to move forward.
He was a motivator, he was good with words. He pulled you into the coaches room sometimes and he had some little one-on-ones, but it was all positive. Everything was positive, and that's what I can say about him—as most positive guy I've ever met.
I had grown up all these years watching my brothers play, looking at the Fedora behind the bench, stern look, note card in hand, and always wanting to play for Ike. Any D of hockey—I got here in '57-'58 and came out of the service, and this was my first coaching job at Edina.
The biggest thrill I had was not winning the NCAA Championship or Stanley Cup—it was winning the Minnesota State High School Championship.
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
Successful state bonding request that secured funding for the pedestrian bridge replacement project
Potential approval mechanism for Opus Group project to obtain flexibility on zoning requirements
Required approvals for Opus Group development at 5100 Eden Avenue
Required zoning change for Opus Group headquarters proposal