A wave of Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge and restaurant expansion had been planned for the middle 1970s that included the Bloomington complex. Unfortunately the first of the "oil shocks" led to a curtailment of building, for Howard B. Johnson and the Company decided on a too conservative business plan that ultimately caused HoJo's to be left behind by other hospitality concerns, most notably Marriott.

The complex in Bloomington, near Minneapolis, was a part of the new expansion but was far enough along in planning and construction that it opened in 1973 just prior to the Company's retrenchment.