HomeMy WebLinkAboutUMore Article 5/8/2020 New developer steps forward to build housing at UMore Park site in Rosemount—Twin Cities
NEWS
New developer steps forward
to build housing at UMore Park
site in Rosemount
By NICK FERRARO I nferraro@pioneerpress.com I Pioneer Press
May 7,2020 at 5:45 p.m.
Another developer has come forward with a plan to buy a 435-acre piece of UMore
Park land in Rosemount and build housing.
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents, meeting as the finance committee
Thursday,heard a proposal to sell the land—located west of Dakota County Technical
College and south of County Road 42—to Maplewood Development and Construction
for$13.1 million. It goes before the regents for approval in June.
Plans call for primarily housing,and also commercial and mixed-use development,
according to the university. It would be the first development for UMore Park,a 4,772-
acre university-owned site that has been pegged for build-out since 2008.
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5/8/2020 New developer steps forward to build housing at More Park site in Rosemount—Twin Cities
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"We're excited about this prospect of development," Kim Lindquist, Rosemount's
community development director,said Thursday."We've partnered with the
university for the last decade to get to this point.We've had some conversations with
(Maplewood Development)and I think they understand the market and what needs to
occur on the site to get a good project moving."
Minneapolis-based Maplewood Development approached the university in the fall
after San Diego-based Newland Land Acquisition failed to secure financing and
canceled its purchase agreement with the university. Newland had planned to build
about 1,500 homes over 10 years.
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5/8/2020 New developer steps forward to build housing at UMore Park site in Rosemount—Twin Cities
Leslie Krueger,the U's assistant vice president for planning,space and real estate,told
the regents the selling price and most other terms of the proposed sale to Maplewood
Development are the same as those that were in the failed Newland deal.
According to the terms, Maplewood Development would have up to two years after
the end of the due diligence period to obtain municipal approvals and close the sale.
Also,the university would agree to not market a portion of the UMore property for
residential purposes for up to two years after closing.
Maplewood Development has a long-standing history in Minnesota and its entities
have developed over 5,000 commercial and residential lots across the Twin Cities
area,including a 120-acre mixed-use site in Maple Grove and a recently completed
development of more than 250 acres in Woodbury. It is also planning a build-out of
the former 3M Co. Imation campus,a 200-acre master-plan community in Oakdale.
The federal government took control of the UMore Park land in 1942 to build a
gunpowder factory called Gopher Ordnance Works. It became property of the
university after World War II,and the land since has been used for agricultural
research and gravel mining.
In 2006,the university released its long-term development vision for the property,but
development stalled. Nine years later,the university gave up on plans to develop the
land itself—instead opting for private developers. Newland's offer was the
university's first.
Tags: Business Dakota County Education Rosemount
University of Minnesota
Nick Ferraro I Dakota County reporter
A Minneapolis native,Nick Ferraro joined the Pioneer Press in 1997
after graduating from the University of St.Thomas in St. Paul. He's
been a reporter covering Dakota County communities since 2007.
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