Council Approves Amended Purchase Agreement With Cameron's Warehouse Liquors

Relief and satisfaction were clearly audible in George Cameron IV’s voice at the Inver Grove Heights City Council meeting last week.

There, Cameron thanked the council for unanimously approving an amended purchase agreement and the final platting that will allow his 115-year-old business, Cameron’s Warehouse Liquors, to relocate back to Concord Boulevard.

“It’s been a family-owned business for 115 years, which seems like a long time to show up for work every day,” Cameron quipped. “But the most important thing is the 115 years of support from our customers.”

Under the agreement, Cameron will purchase Cameron Park, a one-acre site along Concord Boulevard, from the city for $210,000. The price is significantly lower than the $272,000 asking price named in the original purchase agreement, which was approved in Sept. 2009. The new, reduced price better reflects the current value of the property, which declined since the original agreement was penned, Community Development Director Tom Link said. Cameron expects to close on the deal next Monday, and said his business may break ground on a new, 6,500-square-foot liquor store later this month.

It’s a conclusion that has been long in the making for Cameron, whose family business stood for more than a century at 6566 Concord Boulevard — just down the street from the proposed location for his new liquor store. The original building served as a feed store, grocery store, general store and a liquor store over four generations, until Dakota County officials demolished it in 2009 to make way for a road expansion.

Since then, Cameron has been in and out of civil court, fighting to secure better compensation from the county for his demolished property. A Dakota County judge ruled earlier this year that Cameron should receive roughly $997,000 in compensation for the building, Cameron said. The total is much higher than the county’s original appraisal of roughly $560,000, but Cameron plans to appeal later this month and ask for as much as $2.2 million in payment.

Earlier this spring, city officials also amended the city’s liquor ordinance to allow Cameron to relocate back down to Concord Boulevard. The proposed store is located within 500 feet of Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy — and liquor stores sited so close to schools were forbidden under the previous rules.

Eventually, Link hopes Cameron’s relocated liquor store could serve as an ‘anchor’ for development along Concord Boulevard — helping attract other entrepreneurs to the area, Link said.

Cameron estimates the total cost to purchase and improve the site and build the new store will be roughly $3.2 million. The business owner has applied for a building permit for the new store, but until the project is completed, his business will continue to operate from its temporary home on Cahill Avenue.

“Cameron’s has a lot of history and goes way back in the Concord [Boulevard] area, so we’re happy to carry that forward,” Link said. “We’re always pleased to retain an existing business and we’re happy to see some new construction done in the Concord area.”

While much of the financing for the project still depends on the compensation from Dakota County, Cameron said he is relieved to be moving forward with the construction plans.

“It feels good to have all the details worked out,” Cameron said. “It’ll be nice to get back down there.”