From restaurants to real estate developments, here is what you can expect in 2023 – InForum

FARGO — 2022 is in the rearview mirror and it’s once again been an eventful year in the metro area. Thirty-three businesses

either closed or announced plans to close

in 2022, but it’s time to look ahead at what promises to be another action-filled year in the Fargo-Moorhead business community.

Continue on for a roundup of the biggest developments expected for 2023. This list is not comprehensive, so be sure to continue checking

InForum’s business section

as we bring you all of the area’s business news in the new year.

Led Zeppelin may have sung of arriving to Valhalla in their “Immigrant Song,” but it’s Brewhalla that will be coming to Fargo in 2023.

Brewhalla is a massive expansion to Drekker Brewing Company’s complex at 1666 1st Ave. N. in Fargo. The project checks in at 100,000-square-feet and carries a $20 million price tag. It will feature a hotel, apartments, an events center and marketplace. Brewhalla will house several other businesses as well, including Blackbird Woodfire, Nichole’s Fine Pastry and Cafe, Unglued,

Mangata Wine and Raw Bar, Unicorn Park Fine Foodery and Luna Market

. It’s

been described as a “magic factory”

for vendors.

Brewhalla is expected to be completed in early 2023, Drekker president and co-founder Mark Bjornstad told the Fargo Liquor Control Board Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

Fargo

will soon be a destination

for international groceries, thanks to the nearly-completed Asian and American Supermarket at 1425 Main Ave.

Asian and American Supermarket owner John Huynh is upgrading from his previous space further east along Main Ave to the tune of a 19,500-square-foot store. According to Huynh, it will be the largest international grocery store in the Dakotas.

Both Huynh and contractors are targeting a mid-January opening date for the supermarket.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

As always,

downtown Fargo will be a hub of activity

in 2023.

The Arch, a seven-story mixed-use building along the Red River, will be one of the most prominent additions to Fargo’s skyline. The building will house 26 apartments, 32 condominiums, a community room, a fitness room and commercial and office spaces.

The project will be developer EPIC Companies’ largest of the year, company spokeswoman McKenzy Braaten said in November. It is projected to be completed this summer.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

If the next two projects are any indication, West Fargo-based Enclave will have a busy 2023.

Leading things off is the redevelopment of the former Kmart along University Drive South. The Kmart was torn down

in favor of the Midtown Market

development, a 30,000-square-foot retail area for up to 16 tenants. Four more 40,000-square-foot commercial pad sites will be constructed as well.

Enclave did not make a list of prospective tenants available when the project was announced in April 2022, however the firm believes its proximity to Interstate 94 will make it an appealing destination.

Enclave’s website estimates

that Midtown Market will be completed in the fall.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

West Fargo will soon be home to the Center for Special Surgery, also located along Interstate 94, just west of Costco.

The new 90,000-square-foot medical center will include clinics, an urgent care center, pharmacy and ambulatory surgery center. Physicians on site will include specialists in ear, nose and throat care, orthopedics, ophthalmology, neurosurgery, plastic surgery and more.

The completion date is set for sometime this summer,

Enclave’s website

stated. Construction was no doubt

set back by a vehicle fire

which caused “moderate smoke damage” in June, according to the West Fargo Fire Department.

A fixture of downtown Fargo is

going to look a lot different

in 2023, though later than initially hoped.

The Blarney Stone will open on the first floor of the Hotel Donaldson at 101 Broadway. Additionally, renovations to the 17 hotel rooms above will transform the building into “essentially a brand new hotel,” Jim Poolman told The Forum in July.

Poolman is the president and managing partner of Slainte Holdings, which acquired the Hotel Donaldson in March.

The Blarney Stone had first hoped to open in time for Halloween, though the opening day was

pushed into 2023

due to supply chain delays.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

In addition to the projects listed above, numerous other businesses are expected to open their doors to customers in 2023. For many of these establishments, opening dates are still up in the air. However, don’t be surprised to hear from these businesses in the new year.

• Construction is progressing on

  a new Caribou Coffee at 1207 19th Ave. N.

  near the Fargodome. The Caribou is taking the place of the former Pizza Hut located there. The opening date was initially estimated for this winter, though that has been postponed to the spring, a spokesperson informed The Forum recently.

• Another coffee shop targeting an opening date this year is

  the second Babb’s Coffee House location

  in downtown Fargo. Owner Shawn Gibree had originally sought to open in the summer of 2022, but construction delays dashed those hopes. The Forum has made several inquiries regarding an updated opening date, however a response has not been received.

• The

  Bottle Barn Off Broadway

  , located at street-level inside the new Kesler building, is aiming to open in February. The 4,000-square-foot store will carry beer, wine and liquor.

• Two new stores will call the West Acres Shopping Center home in the new year.

  The long-desired arrival of women’s retailer Aerie

  is slated for a 2023 opening. Meanwhile, Windsor Fashions, which carries women’s event and special occasion clothing, is

  set to open

  early in the year.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

• A unique dessert option is on the horizon

  with the coming of Vampire Penguin

  , which sells shaved ice treats. Local operators declined to comment on the new business, though a spring or summer opening would seem a natural fit at 4600 17th Ave. S. in Fargo.

• Holland’s landscaping and gardening center

  will relocate from Moorhead

  to North University Drive in Fargo. Co-owners Sarah and Mike Liljestrand hope to open in the spring.

• KidCo Childrens’ Museum in Moorhead, the creation of Aaron and Emily Duma, Tom Kemmer and Leah Kaspari, is shooting for a January opening. It will feature places for children to play, taking the place of Nature of the North, which closed this past year.

Many more businesses and projects will undoubtedly be announced in 2023. The following three projects could be completed in 2024 or later, but they are no doubt worth tracking in the new year.

• In an exclusive story published by The Forum

  , Hospice of the Red River Valley unveiled its plans to open Heather’s House. Heather’s House is a hospice residence which will offer places for hospice patients and their families to enjoy time together and receive end-of-life care during a trying time. Patients will be able to occupy one of the facility’s 18 private rooms for five days and five nights. A groundbreaking ceremony for Heather’s House took place in May. Brenda Iverson, HRRV’s director of marketing and community relations, recently told The Forum that construction is tentatively set to be completed in early 2024.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

• Despite drawing mixed reviews

  from nearby residents, the BLOC development at the 1600 block of University Drive S. is slated to begin construction in 2023. BLOC would contain 15,258-square-feet of commercial space, heated underground and indoor parking and four floors with 127 apartment units.

• Only a few miles east of the future Midtown Market is another key Enclave project:

  the Compass Apartments

  across the river in Moorhead. The Compass Apartments will replace the former Days Inn and Courtney’s Comedy Club, which was torn down this past spring. The Compass Apartments will have 204 units and check in at a cost of $32.4 million. The Compass Apartments will join another recent Enclave project in the area,

  The Emery at Southmoor

  . That apartment has 130 units and is opening in January. The Compass Apartments were initially expected to be completed by the end of 2023, according to tax increment financing paperwork filed with the city of Moorhead. However, a spokesperson for the company told The Forum the completion date has been pushed into early 2024.

Michael Vosburg/The Forum

• EPIC Companies received a treat on Halloween night

  when the Fargo City Commission agreed to sell

  the property at 234 Main Ave. to the development firm. EPIC is planning to build a seven-story building called Unite at the property. Unite will have parking, commercial spaces, apartments, condominiums and a publicly-accessible outdoor plaza.