Armour Gates property sold;
city council approves new restaurant

Armour Gates property sold; city council approves new restaurant
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | September 2025

Bonfe plans to build a 50,000-square-foot office and warehouse building at the site, located at Armour Avenue and Hardman Avenue South. Two-thirds of the building will be for its operations, and the rest will be available to lease to small businesses. The company is currently operating from an undersized facility at 455 Hardman Ave., and another in Little Canada. The new site will allow Bonfe to consolidate all operations in South St. Paul. Construction is expected to begin by next spring and be complete by the end of the year. The development is estimated to generate between $143,000-$175,000 in annual property taxes beginning in 2028, with $35,000-$46,500 going annually to the city and $28,500-$35,000 to Special School District 6.

After acquiring the property in 1989 the city completed two phases of environmental work to prepare it for sale and redevelopment. However, it’s expected that more sitework is necessary for Bonfe to build there. Therefore, the EDA has agreed to reimburse the company up to $380,750 for any environmental mitigation and geotechnical costs associated with preparing the land for development. High levels of waste and debris from the city’s industrial history have made significant soil restoration work necessary for most redevelopment projects in the city. Similar reimbursement agreements have been made for other recent developments, including Kaposia Library and Asian Mart.

Historically, the triangular shaped site was part of the much larger Armour & Co. meatpacking complex. The city sold the property to a developer in 2009 for the construction of a 25,000-square-foot office-warehouse building but that project ultimately fell through because the developer couldn’t secure a tenant. After that, no other developers stepped forward, due in part to the historic Armour gates structures and potential social backlash for any developer that planned to demolish them. Two years ago, city residents submitted a petition with more than 2,000 signatures to create a park around the monuments but the city council deemed it unviable because of the heavy industrial nature of the area.

Godfather’s Pizza to open in new Holiday station
The South St. Paul City Council recently approved construction of a Holiday gas station at 677 Concord St. S. The 3.2-acre site was formerly part of a 4.7-acre property owned by Bremer Bank, which demolished its 4-story office building there in 2022 and built a new facility on the northernmost portion of the site. The project includes a 6,200-square-foot convenience store, semitruck and automobile fueling areas under a canopy, two electric vehicle fast chargers and – to the delight of the city council and many residents – a restaurant with outdoor dining. The developer brought its plans for the gas station to the city council this spring and heard that there was a strong desire for more restaurants on the Concord Street corridor, rather than yet another gas station, so they added a Godfather’s Pizza to make the project more enticing for the community.

Holiday submitted a landscaping plan to substantially enhance the site. It includes making a landscape buffer between the new building and the Concord Street sidewalk, installing bicycle parking and planting 25 trees. The buffer will have a variety of ornamental grasses and evergreen shrubs, several shade trees and a 4-foot-tall ornamental fence. A sidewalk and grassy boulevard will also be made along the side of the property bordering Villaume Avenue. The station will be open 24/7 and have no car wash. Construction will likely begin next spring and be completed by the end of the year.

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