Shutterfly to demolish half of Lifetouch building to make green space

Eden Prairie Local News reports photo personalization giant Shutterfly is reducing the footprint of its Eden Prairie operations through a proposed demolition of the western-most building of its two-building campus north of I-494, along Viking Drive. The Eden Prairie city council needs to approve the plan, which was endorsed by Eden Prairie Planning Commission, according to reporter Mark Weber.

According to the article, architect Terry Helland, speaking on behalf of Shutterfly, said the campus was built in 1997 by Lifetouch, which was purchased by Shutterfly in 2018. Much of the building proposed to be demolished contains empty studio space, the article said.

“That use of space doesn’t really work for Shutterfly,” said Helland, who added that the building has been mostly unused the past couple of years. Shutterfly’s presence is mostly in the digital arena as a big online retailer and manufacturer of personalized photography and related products and services.

The demolition would reduce Shutterfly’s Eden Prairie campus from 258,850 square feet to 142,165 square feet.