By the Closer Look Inspectors team · Facts checked October 2026 against the sources listed below · About our inspectors
A commercial property inspection helps a Roseville buyer, owner or lender learn how a large, mostly built-out mix of malls, office complexes, industrial buildings and apartments has aged. The city's 2040 plan counts 520.8 acres of retail and commercial land, 274.3 acres of office and 756.2 acres of industrial and utility land in 2016.
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Commercial buildings in and around Roseville
Rosedale Center, HarMar and the strip centers
Roseville's 2040 plan calls the 1.2-million-square-foot Rosedale Center, at the northwest corner of Highway 36 and Snelling Avenue, a key economic engine for the city and says it attracts more than 14 million visitors annually. The city counts more than 2,100 businesses employing approximately 36,000 people, and the Metropolitan Council's profile lists 36,738 jobs in 2024. The plan's 2016 existing land-use table lists 520.8 acres of retail and commercial land, or 7.6 percent of the city.
The plan describes HarMar as an enclosed mall and other freestanding structures constructed in the early 1960s, with parking areas associated with retail. At Lexington and Larpenteur, along the city's southern boundary, it says the area was developed with small-scale strip retail centers that may not be serving their full potential in use.
Enclosed malls and older strip centers tend to share large low-slope roofs, central heating and cooling plants, and parking fields that shed water toward a few drains. An infrared camera can show trapped moisture in those roofs and warm connections in their electrical gear.
Industrial buildings north and west of I-35W and Highway 280
The plan says industrial areas are predominantly clustered north and west of the I-35W/Highway 280 corridor, and that office complexes are also found within those industrial areas, along Highway 36 and within the Twin Lakes redevelopment area. Its 2016 land-use table lists 756.2 acres of industrial and utility land and 274.3 acres of office land.
In Twin Lakes, the plan says redevelopment has been progressing for a number of years, but many of the existing original buildings remain underutilized and underperforming. West of Highway 280, the Pacal Business Center is described as an older manufacturing facility that has been divided into different business operations.
An older plant divided among several tenants often shares one roof, one electrical service and one set of mechanical systems, so a change by one tenant can affect the others.
Apartment buildings in a built-out city
The plan calls Roseville largely built out. In 2016 the city had approximately 15,776 housing units, and 5,841 of them, or 37 percent, were in multifamily buildings of five or more units. The plan also says approximately 76 percent of the city's housing units were built before 1980.
Apartment buildings of five or more units concentrate roofs, boilers, hot-water systems and common-area electrical service in a single structure. For an owner or lender, the age of those shared components often matters more than the finishes inside any one unit.
Commercial buildings we inspect
Quick answers
How built-out is Roseville, and why does that matter to commercial buyers?
Roseville's plan calls the city largely built out. Most commercial property that changes hands is therefore an existing building, so roof age, mechanical equipment and past alterations are usually the main questions.
What kinds of commercial buildings does Roseville have?
The plan describes Rosedale Center as a regional shopping mall, HarMar as an enclosed mall with freestanding structures, small-scale strip centers such as those at Lexington and Larpenteur, office complexes along Highway 36 and in Twin Lakes, and industrial areas clustered north and west of the I-35W/Highway 280 corridor.
What can thermal imaging add for a multi-tenant industrial building?
An infrared camera sees heat that people cannot. On a shared roof, wet insulation can appear as a distinct pattern. On shared electrical equipment, a connection that is loose or carrying too much load can run hotter than the ones around it. Both findings help an owner or lender understand a building without opening walls.
Sources
- City of Roseville: 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 6 Economic Development
- City of Roseville: 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 4 Land Use
- Metropolitan Council: Community Profile for Roseville
- City of Roseville: 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 3 Community Profile
Nearby towns
Commercial property inspection in Minnesota and Iowa · Home inspection in Roseville
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