There is a Whole Foods under construction as part of a larger project in downtown Minneapolis right now...totally privately financed thank goodness.
http://www.ryancompanies.com/ryan/pr...ject-underway/
There is also a Lunds (local upscale grocer) opening on the same street downtown in a month or so...about a mile south of the Whole Foods location.
http://www.lundsandbyerlys.com/Store.../Hennepin.aspx
Downtown has already been growning like crazy...so these aren't really sparking the development...but I am betting they will certainly draw more...Especially around the Whole foods site, as that is currently kind of a hole in an otherwise developing community.