The brick depot at 3115 Chaska Blvd. has reopened. It has a new name on the door and wine back on the shelves. It is also the clearest example of a pattern running through Chaska this year. Almost nothing arriving this fall needed a new building. A restored rail station, a suite at the Chaska Tech Center, the former Crooked Pint space at the curling center and an empty hotel by McKnight Lake are all being filled or planned for reuse.
Each one started with a building that had gone dark or changed hands. What follows is what moved in, what's still coming, and the downtown dates that bring people back to these addresses through early December.
The Depot, Restored and Restocked
The current Chaska Depot is a brick Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway station built in 1911, on the same spot as an earlier wood-frame station. For most Chaska residents, though, the building has meant wine. Dolce Vita Wine Shop opened there in 2006. In 2022 founder Dan Keyport sold the business but kept the building, as the Pioneer Press reported at the time.
A fire on June 30, 2025, closed the building for restoration. By spring 2026 the city had named the next tenant. The City of Chaska's May/June 2026 Business News said Excelsior Vintage, an Excelsior wine and spirits shop for more than 25 years, would take over the former Dolce Vita space once restoration finished. The city also said the Chaska location would have an updated brand, an enhanced wine club and a dedicated event space for tastings and community gatherings.
The new name is River Bend Cellars & Spirits. "New name. New home. Same eye for a great bottle," reads the top of the River Bend website, which now says the store is open. Here's what to know before stopping in:
- Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Parking: a free lot on the east side of the building
- Phone: 952-401-0346
- Special requests: if the shelves don't carry a bottle, there's a request form on the website
Why the Event Space Changes the Building
As Dolce Vita, the Depot was a place to pick up a bottle. The plan for River Bend, as the city described it, includes a room built for tastings. The first fall calendar shows what that looks like in practice.
The next two evenings on the River Bend events lineup both run 6:30 to 8 p.m.:
- Thursday, October 29: "Behind the Bottle," with Denison Cellars founder Tim Wilson
- Thursday, November 5: "Uruguay Uncorked: The Wines of Garzón"
The fall lineup started on Wednesday, October 21, with a Bordeaux night featuring Château Phélan Ségur. That's three producer-focused evenings in about two weeks. River Bend lists Distinguished Taste as its tasting partner, which handles ticketed tastings at the shop, private tastings at home and guided wine trips. The shop has also started the River Bend Wine Club, with two bottles a month from small producers and lesser-known regions and the option to add a third.
The staff picks give a sense of the shelves. They include a Mosel Riesling, a 2016 Haart Piesporter Spätlese, and a Wisconsin bourbon, J. Henry & Sons La Flamme Reserve, finished in Armagnac barrels.
A Suite at the Chaska Tech Center
Farther along Chaska Boulevard, the next addition is moving into an existing office and retail building. The City of Chaska's September/October 2026 Business News lists Spice Rack, an international market, as coming soon to 2950 Chaska Blvd. #111 at the Chaska Tech Center, next door to Southern Social.
The city describes the shelves as groceries and specialty products from around the world, focused on Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern and other global foods. The city expects it to open this fall and has not given a date yet. For people who live near the west end of the boulevard, that puts an international grocery in the same parking lot as a restaurant they may already know.
The same city newsletter tracks smaller refills downtown. River City Nail Spa opened in July at 107 E. 2nd St. It is the sister salon to Turbo Nail Spa and is open seven days a week.
The Curling Center Space Turned Over First
The Depot wasn't Chaska's first rebuilt space on this road this year. When Crooked Pint closed on April 5, its space at the Chaska Curling and Event Center, 3210 Chaska Blvd., went to The Copperfield. The new restaurant comes from Hightop Hospitality, the same group behind Crooked Pint. We covered that opening and how its timing lined up with the festival calendar in our earlier look at the restaurant by Chaska's curling rink.
It matters again this fall because 3210 Chaska Blvd. is also the address of Firemen's Park. The city tree lighting happens there in November, steps from the restaurant that replaced a closed one.
The Biggest Quiet Building in Town
The pattern gets much bigger across from Costco. The former Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center, a 171,000-square-foot building next to McKnight Lake, has been closed since September 2020. In August the Chaska City Council unanimously approved a concept plan from Scandvik Hotels, a Canadian hospitality company, to turn it into a hotel and Nordic spa, Carver County Local News reported.
According to that report, the concept includes:
- 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of new outdoor spa space with warm and cold pools, sauna structures and relaxation pavilions
- 130 remodeled guest rooms, with another 10 to 15 rooms converted into spa treatment rooms
- A 15,000-square-foot conference center for retreats, weddings and community gatherings
- A restaurant and lounge seating 100 to 150, open to hotel guests and the community
- An expanded 306-stall parking lot
The property would carry the Marriott Tribute Portfolio flag. Scandvik president Travis Batting told the council that after five years of vacancy, the building needs about $40 million in upgrades. Council members asked the developer to limit disturbance to the wooded slopes between the building and the lake, which is where the pools and saunas are proposed.
"It's been a vacant spot for a while, and many people in the community are asking what is happening," Ward 4 Councilmember Leah Sheveland said at the meeting, according to the same Carver County Local News report. Mayor Taylor Hubbard said it was "nice to be able to see that building relive its life again."
This is still early. The August report projected final approvals in early 2027, construction in 2027 and 2028, and an opening in 2028. For now the Depot is open, Spice Rack is on the way, and the spa is a plan the council has approved in concept.
Downtown Dates Through December 5
The Downtown Chaska Business Alliance has a run of evenings and Saturdays coming up that bring people to these addresses. Here's what's scheduled from River Bend's October 29 tasting through early December, per downtownchaska.com:
- Saturday, November 7: Deer Saturday Sip & Shop at the Downtown Chaska Paseo
- Saturday, November 14: Holiday Market Sip & Shop at the Downtown Chaska Paseo
- Sunday, November 22, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Chaska Tree Lighting at Firemen's Park, 3210 Chaska Blvd.
- Saturday, November 28: Small Business Saturday in Downtown Chaska
- Saturday, December 5, 2 to 5 p.m.: Hometown Holiday in Downtown Chaska, with carriage rides, Santa, music and a tree lighting
The paseos that host the Sip & Shop nights are part of the same reuse pattern. The city moved the Chaska Farmers Market this summer to the lot between Red Bench Bakery and Meadow Spring Church. The city says the new spot was popular and linked shoppers to the new paseos, local businesses and the summer concerts in City Square.
When a building like the Chaska Depot gets a new life, the story behind it is part of what makes a place memorable, and that's the same way we approach marketing a home. If you're curious how your own home's story and setting would come across to today's buyers, The Hancock Group is glad to walk you through it with a free home evaluation.
