By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors
A commercial property inspection helps a buyer, owner or lender in Edina see what is behind buildings of very different ages, from Southdale, planned in 1952 as the nation's first enclosed, weatherproofed mall, to the 1934 theater at 50th and France.
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Southdale: the first enclosed mall and the buildings planned around it
The Minnesota Historical Society says Dayton and designer Victor Gruen unveiled plans in 1952 for Southdale, the nation's first enclosed, weatherproofed mall, and that 75,000 people attended the gala opening on October 8, 1956. Its description of what visitors saw mentions a garden court spotlighted by an enormous skylight. The master plan went further, putting the mall at the core of apartment buildings, houses, schools, a medical center, a park and a lake. The medical center opened in 1965, and the remaining land was eventually sold for housing.
Seventy years on, an enclosed mall's roof has more to it than a strip center's: skylights, curbs for rooftop units, expansion joints and large low-slope areas, each a place where water can find a way in. Planning around the mall has shifted over the years. In June 2019 the Hennepin County Board authorized staff to negotiate a long-term lease with developers at Southdale Center, and a December 2020 county library notice said the plan to relocate Southdale Library from its York Avenue parcel was paused. A buyer, lender or tenant weighing space there is weighing a property that opened in 1956 and has seen seven decades of Minnesota weather.
50th and France: a 1934 art deco theater
According to Edina Magazine, the Edina Theatre at 50th and France opened on August 31, 1934 as the largest theater in suburban Minneapolis, an art deco movie house that featured the latest technology, including air-conditioning. The sign was destroyed by a tornado in 1981 and entirely rebuilt in its original style.
The magazine adds that the theater has experienced substantial renovations and that now only the exterior sign is a historic landmark. A building renovated that many times is a stack of layers, and a condition assessment gives a buyer or lender a clearer picture of what is underneath. Canopies, parapets and sign anchors on storefronts of this age take weather punishment that rarely shows from the sidewalk, and a thermal image of an exterior wall can point to damp or missing insulation.
A mill town before it was a mall town
The Edina Historical Society points out that Edina's history did not begin with Southdale Center. The city first grew around a small red mill along Minnehaha Creek, where agriculture, industry and community life took shape in the mid-19th century. Mill sites sit beside moving water for a reason, and buildings near a creek are the ones where grading, drainage and basement moisture deserve attention as much as the structure itself.
Commercial buildings we inspect
Quick answers
How old is Southdale Center, and why does that matter to a buyer?
Southdale held its gala opening on October 8, 1956. Buildings that old usually go through many cycles of roof, skylight and equipment replacement, and tenant spaces are rebuilt again and again. A commercial property inspection gives a buyer or lender a written record of the building's condition at the time of purchase or financing.
Why look closely at older storefronts near 50th and France before a lease or purchase?
The Edina Theatre, on 50th and France, opened in 1934 and has been renovated substantially since. Old exterior walls, canopies and parapets can hide moisture problems for years. Thermal imaging records temperature differences on a wall, which can point to damp or missing insulation, and a written condition assessment gives owners and lenders a record to work from.
Is a commercial property near Minnehaha Creek more exposed to moisture?
Edina first grew around a small red mill along Minnehaha Creek. Buildings near moving water are worth checking for grading, drainage and basement moisture, because water that collects at a foundation can affect walls and floors long before it is visible inside.
Sources
- Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia: Southdale Center
- Edina Historical Society: Mission and History
- Edina Magazine: Edina Icon Turns 90
- Hennepin County Library: Southdale Library project on hold (December 1, 2020)
Nearby towns
Commercial property inspection in Minnesota and Iowa · Home inspection in Edina
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