All Grown Up: Oak Park Heights has quickly become the retail hub of the Stillwater area

Construction begins on Oak Park Commons

MINNEAPOLIS – May 9, 2006 – CSM Corporation, a Minneapolis-based commercial and residential real estate development company, has broken ground on its latest development – a Lowe’s anchored retail shopping center on the last undeveloped parcel of land along Highway 36 in Oak Park Heights, Minn., a Twin Cities suburb. Oak Park Commons will feature Lowe’s Home Improvement, small shop retail space, restaurants and a bank. Adjacent to a new Wal-Mart Super Center, also under construction, Oak Park Commons joins Kohl’s, Michael’s, Kowalski’s and Herberger’s; all of which have been built within the last 3 years.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation had once planned to build a clover leaf interchange on the 22-acre site to connect Highway 36 to the planned St. Croix River Bridge. Oak Park Commons, located at the intersection of Highway 36 and Oakgreen Avenue, will be a 200,000 square-foot development including 30,000 square-feet of small shop retail space and four restaurant pad sites. Internal walkways will easily and safely connect the small shop retail and restaurant patrons to Lowe’s.

“Oak Park Commons is the last piece of the puzzle in Oak Park Heights and its neighbor Stillwater along the Highway 36 corridor,” states John Gelderman, director of retail development for CSM Corp.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in late 2006.

About CSM Corporation

CSM Corporation, founded in 1976, is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. CSM Corporation engages in the acquisition, development, leasing, management and ownership of quality real estate assets. The company’s extensive portfolio includes retail, industrial, multi-family residential and hotel properties across the continental United States. For more information, visit www.csmcorp.net.