The Waconia Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated 21st Annual Sister Saturday Get ready for a fun-filled day of shopping nearly 30 Waconia businesses are collaborating to design an exciting experience on the Minnesota Walleye Fishing Opener sisters and friends together to shop local and create great memories together “Shopping local is all about keeping the Waconia community thriving Sister Saturday is the perfect chance to gather with friends and family and support our amazing local businesses,” said Christine Fenner Visit DestinationWaconia.org to download a map and check out the list of participating businesses We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information you should always call ahead to confirm dates To submit an event for consideration, consult our calendar policies and guidelines. M&A Seminar on Preparing Your Company for Sale Presented by Maslon LLP and Northborne Partners Goodwill pays $1.1M for site of new Waconia store will break ground this summer on The Dorian a 190-unit apartment complex in Lake Elmo after buying[...] The University of Minnesota plans to sell 60 acres at UMore Park for $8.1M to North Wind Test for a major aero[...] Medical office buildings in the Twin Cities are in high demand as investors seek stable assets amid tariffs BioMADE has bought a Maple Grove site for $16.5M to build a $132M biomanufacturing facility backed by the DoD [...] Twin Cities apartment vacancies fall to 7.03% as rent rises and construction slows Louis Park have new owners after about five years Sign up for your daily digest of Minnesota News Efforts to reform Minnesota zoning laws fail again as local opposition blocks a bill limiting parkin[...] a 190-unit apartment complex in Lake Elmo af[...] The University of Minnesota plans to sell 60 acres at UMore Park for $8.1M to North Wind Test for a [...] The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged despite political pressure from Pre[...] The Trump administration is swiftly remaking housing policy as the U.S Department of Housing and Ur[...] construction job openings dropped by 38,000 in March signaling slowing labor demand amid tarif[...] Trump's trade demands stretch beyond tariffs Performance contracting helps governments and schools cut energy costs is now an official city after a local vote Milwaukee Mitchell Airport will start a $95.2M international terminal project this summer after dela[...] Listen here analysis and commentary on Minnesota business We are the only independent daily newspaper dedicated to business reporting Get our free e-alerts & breaking news notifications Subscribe for access to the latest digital and special editions who had admired the bucolic Big Woods location since his childhood built a luxurious 5,896-square-foot “modern farmhouse” overlooking a 4-acre pond Dean Hilgers first became fascinated with the Waconia property when growing up in that town He remembers seeing it on his newspaper route at age 10 That’s when he set out to acquire the property “I went and knocked on the door of the people who owned the property,” he recalled and added numerous decorative and practical features spent from 2003 to 2016 improving the almost 30 acres located in the historic Big Woods a hardwood forest that stretches from western Wisconsin through south-central Minnesota They laid a half-mile road across the property from the main road to the ridge at the back of the property They started tapping the property’s sugar maple trees and making syrup that they donate to nonprofits They built a 4-acre pond with fountains and a dock and stocked it with fish They installed buried fiber internet lines and had the power and phone lines buried In 2017, he had Lecy Bros build the 5,896-square-foot house The company called it “a modern farmhouse.” Hilgers calls it “our dream.“ “We really built the house as a testimony to the land,” Hilgers said The house has five bedrooms and five bathrooms The 14- by 18-foot master bedroom features a vaulted ceiling and chandelier a large bathroom and a “walk-in closet the size of a bedroom.” The bedroom’s sitting area has large windows through which he watches sunsets It’s “such a nice place to start and end the day,” Hilgers said An enclosed chef’s prep kitchen, aka catering kitchen, is separate from the open main kitchen, so guests won’t hear pans banging when there’s a party. There’s also a kitchen on the walkout lower level. The kitchens have “appliances galore,” including a Sub-Zero refrigerator Hilgers befriended chefs at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and at their recommendation bought an American Range griddle which heats to 500 degrees to properly sear steaks and had it painted blue to match other colors in the house the last of which is handy when a delivery person shows up There’s a car showroom that holds six of Dean’s cars as well as the Corvette that he gave Theresa for Valentine’s Day Another Valentine’s gift for his wife was a treehouse made from century-old cedar trees removed from the property cut into boards and kiln-dried for about a decade The treehouse is furnished with a bed and electricity The fireplace bricks in the main house are carefully symmetrical An outdoor sitting area can be seen through glass doors that open so “you feel like you’re part of the environment outside as well as inside.” Hilgers carefully assessed the location of every rock and tree on the lawn A church is being built on the property across the street from the house “All of this beautiful land will be preserved,” he said After a 2016 trip to the vineyard areas of France, the couple loved the look of the terraced property so much that they decided to create their own vineyard at the Waconia property. They sell the grapes to Parley Lake Winery to make into award-winning wine Now Hilgers wants to make sure the property falls into the right hands not with someone who will sell off the land for a housing development or something else “It’s really hard to think about selling this property but it’s time to think about our aging,” he said I don’t want to sell it just to get a dollar.” Jim Schwarz of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty (612-251-7201, jim.schwarz@lakesmn.com) has the $3.445 million listing. Katy Read writes for the Minnesota Star Tribune's Inspired section. She previously covered Carver County and western Hennepin County as well as aging, workplace issues and other topics since she began at the paper in 2011. Home & Garden Nurseries and garden clubs across Minnesota are offering a variety of flower this property has lots of room for creativity: It could be a farm an orchard or an amenity-rich rural retreat And it turns out the Merlin app can detect a merlin Pulte Homes wants to create 339 residential lots in the first phase of development on a 241-acre site north of 102nd Street and south of County Road 10/Engler Boulevard in Waconia Efforts to reform Minnesota zoning laws fail again as local opposition blocks a bill limiting parking mandates[...] Performance contracting helps governments and schools cut energy costs Twin Cities housing starts were up across the board in April on the strength of another solid month for single[...] Greco Properties plans a 20-unit memory care facility on a tough-to-develop Edina lot Rice Creek Commons begins redevelopment with Micro Control HQ marking a major step after years of delays at t[...] proposes 43-unit mixed-use building in Excelsior with a renovation of the historic Dock Cinema