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HAWLEY, Minn. — About five years ago, during the height of the pandemic, developer Austin Peterson purchased about two acres of land next to Highway 10 in Hawley.
The fact that thousands of people drive by the site every day made the location ripe for commercial development, figured Peterson, who had six “shop condos” built on the site.
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Peterson named the new business park Golden Prairie District.
Five of the six shops now have tenants who operate, or soon will operate, businesses out of the spaces.
They include:
Peterson said he realizes the venture is a gamble. But, he says it is one he is willing to take given the quality of the Hawley community and particularly the Hawley School District.
“It’s probably one of the best school districts in the state. I thought it was pretty safe to invest,” said Peterson, who sits on the Hawley School Board.
Peterson said the business park project turned out well and one reason for that was the quality of the work provided by the builder, Optima Construction, a Fargo-based company.
Peterson said a fall festival is planned at the business park that will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20.
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He said the event will feature a street dance, food by local vendors and inflatable games by Games to Go.
In addition to the development’s shop tenants, a number of smaller enterprises have offices in the business park as well, including:
Currently, one 2,000-square-foot shop condo is available for lease and three office spaces are available to rent, Peterson said.
One of the businesses to set up in the office spaces is Lexie jo Photography, operated by Lexie Mathias.
Mathias, a high school senior, started taking photographs when she was 9 and she has operated her photo business for three years.
Mathias said when it comes to her photo business, “I tend to do everything.”
That includes doing all of the photo work for her school, with some of that work ending up in the pages of the local newspaper, the Hawley Herald.
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Mathias said after high school she hopes to focus on her photography business full time.
Either that, she said, “Or I will go to school for pediatric nursing.”
Klass Cutz Barbershop recently opened in the business park, but for now it is still in soft-opening mode, according to owner Kenny Noelsaint, who is also involved in barbershop locations in Fargo.
Noelsaint said he likes the idea of a business park, as customers can take care of all kinds of things in one location.
“It’s like a one-stop shop,” he said, noting that customers can get their hair cut at his business, with additional services like pet grooming or car detailing available nearby.
Noelsaint expects to fully open by sometime in October or November at the latest.
One of Noelsaint’s neighbors is Lakes Country Wraps
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Bryce Skogen opened the shop a few months ago, offering vehicle wrapping, window tinting, paint correction and vehicle detailing.
Skogen said his business was one of the first to open in the park, noting he became aware of the new business park’s potential early on, as he and his wife, Megan, live nearby.
“Since we live right across the street, I saw them getting built,” Skogen said of the shop condos.
“As they were going up I thought: ‘They’re going to look so nice when they’re done, I have to do it,”’ Skogen said, recalling how he came to the decision regarding a permanent spot for his shop.
Skogen said when it comes to vehicle wraps, flexibility is a big part of the appeal for customers.
“You can take it (the wrap) off and put it back on. The nice thing is you can go with these crazy, crazy colors without hurting the resale value of your vehicle,” he said.
Another shop condo is home to Red River Adventure, which recently moved an inventory of Triumph motorcycles into its space at Golden Prairie District.
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General Manager Matt Halseth said the Triumph dealership, which expects to open soon in the business park, is looking to utilize the Golden Prairie District as a temporary home.
He said the plan is to eventually include a few additional franchise names to the business before moving the dealership closer to the Muscatell Burns Ford dealership in Hawley, which, like the Triumph dealership, is part of the Ward Muscatell Automotive Group.
Halseth said he expects the move to take place in about a year.
“We’re a destination brand. People are going to travel to get to us,” Halseth said, referring to Triumph.
He said to find the nearest Triumph dealerships to the one in Hawley one would have to drive west to Billings, Montana, or east to Monticello, Minnesota.
Hawley Mayor Sean Mork said geography is a major factor in the appeal of the Golden Prairie District.
With all the traffic that flows between the Fargo-Moorhead area and points east, including Detroit Lakes, Mork said the development is drawing attention to what Hawley has to offer.
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“They (drivers) see that we’re building, so it’s getting people’s curiosity up,” Mork said.
“That’s what is nice about being right on Highway 10,” he added. “You get a lot of commuters, it just gets people talking.”
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