Blaine is ‘excited’ about new Asia Village coming next year

Partners with a stake in the Asia Mall in Eden Prairie say they plan to bring a similar concept to the Northtown Mall in Blaine.

They announced the venture Wednesday at a news conference and said the complex featuring shops and restaurants will be open sometime next year.

It will be “a truly East meets West experience, where Asian culture, clothing and foods are showcased daily,” a statement on the Asia Village at Northtown reads.

Construction on the 130,000-square foot space currently occupied by Becker Furniture is expected to start this summer and be complete by the middle of 2025, said Blaine city spokesman Ben Hayle.

“The city is excited,” Hayle said. “It will give the mall a modern look.”

Asia Village will be larger than a similar complex called Asia Mall, which opened in 2022 in a former Gander Mountain store off Interstate 494 and Hwy. 5 in Eden Prairie.

The new venture at the Blaine shopping center comes just two years after the city approved a master plan to redevelop and revitalize Northtown Mall and the surrounding area.

Asia Village will help “change what the mall looks and feels like,” Hayle said. “It will bring vibrancy to the area.”