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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.a. Project & Econ. Dev. Coor. Update EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Port Authority Meeting Date: December 17, 2019 AGENDA ITEM: Project & Economic Development Coordinator Update AGENDA SECTION: Old Business PREPARED BY: Eric Van Oss, Economic Development Coordinator AGENDA NO. 4.a. ATTACHMENTS: Retail Strategies Update APPROVED BY: LJM RECOMMENDED ACTION: Information Item ISSUE Previous discussions with the Council and Port Authority indicated a desire for more information regarding completion of workplan activities. The following highlights some of the project and economic development activities since the last Port Authority meeting. Business Visits: Akona Manufacturing: Mayor Droste, City Administrator Logan Martin, and Economic Development Coordinator Eric Van Oss met with Tori McDowell and Steve Wenborg from Akona Manufacturing on December 12th. Akona, part of the larger TCC Materials, manufactures cement products at the Rosemount location and is a major supplier to Menards. They employ 18 people in manufacturing roles and 5 office staff at the Rosemount location. Currently, Akona is about 3-5 workers short for their existing shifts and hiring workers has been a major source of difficultly. Eventually, Akona would like to add a 3rd night shift, but currently does not have the workforce capacity. The City also briefed Akona on future projects that may impact their location such as the paving of Biscayne and the addition of a traffic signal on County Road 42. Akona also requested to be notified prior to Public Works hydrant flushing schedule, as they are unable to use the water for manufacturing during those times. Commercial Contacts: Kwik Trip: Staff continues to work with Kwik Trip after they indicated interest in the location at Akron Avenue. Carousel Way: Staff has met with Davis business representatives to discuss necessary approvals and schedule in November. Davis expects to submit plans after January 1, 2020. 2 Davis: After meeting with Davis regarding the Carousel Way parcel, Davis reached out regrading a second project in Rosemount. They were interested in a 1-2 acre parcel or 10,000 existing square feet of commercial space. Staff provided information on several suitable sites in addition to existing space located in Sweet Harvest’s building. Multi-tenant Retail: To date the permit has not been picked up. Israelson property: Staff spoke with Mr. Israelson regarding the PUD process for the first phase of this project which would be 20 luxury apartment units. Merchants Bank site: Still working on details of purchase. Akron Ave: Another meeting was held with the property owner regarding the Indoor Rec Center. Staff will be working with a consultant to commission site planning work for the property. The Council is being asked to approve a scope of work at the meeting on December 17, 2019. MGM retail space: Broker indicated some interest from a larger fitness group. Two additional users are working through market feasibility. Affordable Housing: Staff is working with the Dakota County CDA to notify affordable housing developers that the CDA property on Akron will be going on the market in 2020. The site is zoned for high density residential. Companies contacted include Dominium, Aeon, and Common Bond. INDUSTRIAL UMore Industrial site: Staff met with the site selection group, Xcel energy representatives and the University this week to discuss the larger UMore site. There is no new information to share on the Opus site. Biscayne Business Park/ Cerron Commercial Properties: Building plans have been submitted for the first building. The foundation work will begin soon and the construction is slated to begin in Spring 2020. Staff continued to work with Bruce Rydeen to find prospective tenants for the forthcoming spec light industrial space. Cerron is deciding whether they will pull the permit this year or wait until spring 2020. Rosemount Business Park: No new information currently. Minneapolis Real Estate Journal: Staff attended the MREJ Industrial Development event. The conversation largely revolved around the growing market for spec industrial developments for warehousing and 3rd party logistics companies. Contacts were made with Opus Development, Duke Realty, Hyde Development, Crawford Merx, and Hoyt Properties, Inc. Workforce: WDB: Eric Van Oss joined the Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board Business Services Committee officially on December 13, 2019. He attended orientation for new members and has been working with the committee on 2020 visioning. This is a group that meets every other month to discuss 3 ongoing economic development activity, grant opportunities, hiring events, and employer needs through Dakota County. Staff has linked Rosemount employers to hiring events and funding/training programs. DCTC: Staff is working with DCTC on holding an April 2020 Community Forum on Employer-Educator Partnerships. This forum will include Rosemount businesses that have established training programs as well as businesses looking to create their own pipelines. The next planning meeting is scheduled for January 6, 2020. We make retail happen. RETAIL RECRUITMENT UPDATES •Diehl and Partners –We touched base with Lisa to verify her vacancies in Celtic Crossing. She let us know that their has been some interest and deals she’s been working on but nothing is completed at this time. We’ve sent a handful of retailers information on that site so we are hopeful. •National Convenience Store–Our team contacted them again to see if their strategy had chanced since last year. They let us know that they still have no interest in the market at this time. •National Hotel Chain–We reached out to this group to see if they would have any interest in Rosewood Center. They received our information and have agreed to review it. We sent them the site plan showing a hotel use in this development. •National Sporting Goods Retailer –We contacted their tenant rep broker to gauge their interest in the market if a larger development was potential put together. He said at this time they don’t have interest. However, he asked that we touch back if a development were to come together at some point. •National Chiropractic Group–We have been speaking to this group as they are expanding across the country. We showed them space in Rosewood Crossing. They don’t currently have a franchisee but let us know they would be in touch if that were to change. •Regional Sandwich Restaurant–We have sent information again to them to follow back up from our prior outreach. We are currently awaiting feedback. •National Pizza Restaurant–Our team sent information again on the market and showed them multiple options for location. They are passing this along to the regional franchisee for review and will be back in touch if there is any interest. •National Convenience Store –We continue stay in touch with them and look for a site they might agree to. ROSEMOUNT, MINNESOTA BETH MILLER PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR 205.314.0385 beth@retailstrategies.com November 2019