HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.a. Project Updates
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Port Authority Meeting Date: November 16, 2021
AGENDA ITEM : Project Updates AGENDA SECTION:
Old Business
PREPARED BY: Eric Van Oss, Economic Development
Coordinator AGENDA NO. 4.a.
ATTACHMENTS: Press articles . APPROVED BY: LJM
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Information Item.
ISSUE
Previous discussions with the City 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.
The Morrison: The first half of the building is nearing completion and will start move-ins around
November 17th. Work has started on landscaping and final façade work. The MediCar building was
demolished in October and the site will be used for snow storage until construction for Tap Society begins
in spring.
Breweries/Tap Houses:
OMNI Orchards: The land was closed on during the week of November 1st and the developer is reviewing
preliminary construction pricing. They expect to submit items for a building period sometime in
December.
Tap Society: Demo work began on October 14th and the site is now clear. Tap Society is currently working
through some issues related to construction costs and financing and will likely submit plans in 2022 for a
spring construction start.
Dave Schmitz/North 20 Brewing: Currently under construction.
Summit Dental: Foundation work has begun on the Merchant’s Bank site.
Lorenz Clinic: The Lorenz Clinic is working on a tenant buildout for a new medial user in the recently
opened medical professional building.
Israelson properties:
HWY 3/42: Staff spoke with Warren Israelson in September and he indicated that they have prepared
building plans and elevations for the commercial space. He is still expecting to submit the final plat
application for the first two senior apartments and commercial space in 2021.
Rosewood Crossing: Plans were submitted to building for the next 32-unit apartment building.
Rec Center: Work on the public-private partnership Recreation Center continues. The purchase
agreement for approximately 13 acres of land should be considered by the City Council in the coming
weeks, which would initiate the project in earnest.
UMore Residential: Amber Fields is working through the master development agreement and will be
submitting for a final plat of all the outlots that encompass the different phases of development. Staff met
with several developers interested in the multifamily sites of Amber Fields.
CDA Property: The CDA and Schafer Richardson are working on the finalizing the purchase agreement.
Project submittals will likely come after the first of the year.
Akron Avenue & County Road 42: Staff is reaching out to commercial users regarding sites along
Akron. Several parties have expressed interest, especially as plans for the rec center move forward. Staff
scheduled several meetings with C-stores regarding sites on the Northeast section.
Multi-Family: Staff continues to meet with multi-family and mixed-use developers for sites at Akron,
UMore , downtown and other sites . Interest in multifamily housing remains elevated. Staff met with several
developer in October and November.
Luxury Townhome Rentals: Watermark applied for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment for a 26-acre
site at Connemara and Biscayne, which will be considered during the November Planning Commission
meeting. A community meeting will be held by the developer on November 17th with staff in attendance.
Spectro Alloys: Spectro Alloys has submitted a building permit application for a $10 million investment to the
Rosemount recycling plant. Spectro has broken ground on a 70,000-square-foot warehouse addition. In addition
to capturing and recycling waste heat, the warehouse will be rigged for solar arrays and the grounds will get a
landscaping makeover.
INDUSTRIAL
UMore Industrial site: Staff continues to meet with potential industrial users for the UMore site . The
prospective user is highly interested in the site and further talks are scheduled.
Biscayne Business Park/Cerron Commercial Properties: APPRO/Cerron continues to work with a
few potential prospects for new spec industrial space.
Rosemount Business Park: Project Osprey began site mobilization and grading work the week of
October 10th. Staff finalized the Development Agreement and TIF Agreement, and the TIF Agreement
was approved by Council on October 5th. Staff is currently working with DEED and the business on the
grant and contract agreements for the MIF loan program . Staff expects to hear back on the TEDI grant
sometime in November.
A developer is exploring a possible spec industrial project immediately south of the Business Park.
Preliminary concept plans have been shown to the council at a work session, where a general support was
indicated.
Opus Site: Staff met with a potential industrial user in October regarding potential development on the
Opus/Flintlock 52 site and is moving forward with an NDA. Staff also spoke with another industrial user
interested on the site.
Scannell Project: The plat and rezoning for the Rich Valley Golf Course redevelopment was passed by
Council on October 19th. Currently the project is in the adjacent community review period as required by
the Met Council. No new updates at this time.
OTHER
Downtown Façade Grant: Interest in the downtown grant program is high. Currently there are five
applications submitted. Two businesses have fully executed grant agreements. As mentioned at the
October meeting, getting bids from contractors are proving to be the biggest hurdle in moving forward
with grant agreements. Businesses that have applied have indicated they are having difficulty securing bids
from contractors. Staff is trying to be flexible with the application process to accommodate the shortage of
companies able to perform the façade work.
Night on the Town: Night on the Town occurred on November 11th. Staff helped organize and promote
the event. As in the past the City had allocated funds to help pay for some of the expenses, namely the
trolley rental.
Employer Awards: Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board’s Legislative and Employer Awards
Event will be held virtually on December 10th. Silk Road Wellness was nominated for an award.
Press: Several large projects were recently highlighted in the press including, The Home Depot, FedEx,
and Spectro Alloys. Staff has been working diligently to get many of these projects circulated to a wider
audience. See attached articles.
11/10/21, 10:57 AM Home Depot, Fed Ex are building giant warehouses in Rosemount - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/home-depot-fed-ex-are-building-giant-distribution-centers-in-rosemount/600111133/1/4
___
BUSINESS
Home Depot, Fed Ex are building giant
warehouses in Rosemount
The sprawling facilities add to a rapid expansion of the metro's
industrial warehouse sector.
By Jim Buchta (https://www.startribune.com/jim-buchta/6370612/) Star Tribune
OCTOBE R 29, 2021 — 8:29AM
Development is underway on two sprawling warehouses with a combined nearly 1
million square feet in Rosemount, one of several outer-ring suburbs that have become
destinations for developers that are catering to the growing e-commerce industry.
The city recently gave a nod to Scannell Properties, which plans to develop a warehouse
on 86 acres on what is now the Rich Valley Golf Course. Initial plans call for a 548,000-
square-foot building with trailer parking and loading docks.
Planning documents, which include renderings that identify the tenant as Fed Ex, say the
project would be the first major development east of Hwy. 52. It's expected to bring 400
to 600 jobs the city, said Rosemount economic development coordinator Eric Van Oss.
"That's a pretty significant influx of jobs," said Van Oss. "As these facilities grow, I
wouldn't be surprised if more jobs come."
Indiana-based Scannell has an international footprint; clients include Amazon, Best Buy
and Fed Ex.
Late last month, Atlanta-based Seefried Industrial Properties started construction on a
417,600-square-foot distribution building in Rosemount's business park. The project will
also include 210,400 square foot of outdoor storage space. Earlier this year, the
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development'sMinnesota
Investment Fund approved a $375,000 grant for what's being called Home Depot USA.
That project, identified in city planning documents as Project Osprey, received
approvals in August.
Barbara Bennett, marketing coordinator for Seefried, said that non-disclosure
agreements prohibit her from discussing details of the Rosemount project and others. In
2016, she said, the company developed a 2.3 million-square-foot fulfillment center in
Shakopee.That project now houses an Amazon fulfillment center.
C AT H E R I N E R O B E R TS , S TA R T R I B U N E
Site work has begun for the Home Depot
warehouse along Route 3 in Rosemount.
Rosemount to get two new
warehouses/distribution
centers
Warehouses and distribution centers are
among the fastest-growing sectors in
commercial development.
11/10/21, 10:57 AM Home Depot, Fed Ex are building giant warehouses in Rosemount - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/home-depot-fed-ex-are-building-giant-distribution-centers-in-rosemount/600111133/2/4
Van Oss said the city has plenty of developable land that's well suited for such projects,
including an industrial park and other locations with a combined 800-plus acres.
Interest in those sites, he said, has increased significantly over the past year and a half as
demand for warehouse space expands.
"These [kinds of projects] are pretty new for us," he said. "But based on other proposals,
they probably won't be the last. We're seeing quite a bit of interest in these larger
distribution centers."
Developers are targeting second- and third-ring suburbs where there are still large tracts
of developable land. Because the facilities are used for storage and often need loading
docks and large parking lots, they tend to be low-rise buildings that can occupy many
acres.
Demand for office space in the Twin Cities has been clobbered by the pandemic, but the
need for industrial space has soared as retailers and wholesalers look for storage and
distribution sites.
Hudson Brothen, director of brokerage services for Cushman Wakefield, said industrial
vacancy rates in the Twin Cities are now below 4%.
"Our world's dependence on e-commerce and supply chain issues are combining to make
the industrial real estate market in Minnesota the strongest it has ever been," he said.
"The shortage of options and high demand for industrial space will continue in
Minnesota for years to come."
A decade ago, he said, a 100,00-square-foot project was considered a big deal. Today, he
estimates that there are 15 to 30 prospective tenants looking for buildings with 100,000
to 1 million square feet. Already, there are millions of square feet of new development
being built around the Twin Cities.
"Industrial has become the 'golden child' both locally and nationwide," he said. "The
industrial developers can't keep up with the demand with several projects even seeing
some pre-leasing. This is the strongest industrial real estate has been in our Minnesota
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
11/10/21, 10:57 AM Home Depot, Fed Ex are building giant warehouses in Rosemount - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/home-depot-fed-ex-are-building-giant-distribution-centers-in-rosemount/600111133/3/4
market."
The proliferation of online shopping and growing supply chain problems are driving
demand.
"The ports have been overly crowded since COVID, which is causing a supply chain issue
and affects companies' ability to predict when they will get their inventory of goods
delivered," he said. "To combat that, companies are stockpiling more of these goods to
help combat the unpredictability of the global supply chain. For this reason, companies
are naturally needing more space to house their additional inventory orders."
The projects face some construction constraints. Used to be, Brothen said, that an entire
facility could be built in eight months. Today, however, it's taking 10 months to get steel
deliveries. He recently got quoted a 50-week lead time on tilt-up concrete panels used for
warehouse walls.
"If your development is not already under construction, you might not finish
construction until early 2023," he said. "And that will cause a strain on already tight
demand."
Jim Buchta has covered real estate for the Star Tribune for several years. He also has covered
energy, small business, consumer affairs and travel.
jim.buchta@startribune.com 612-673-7376
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
11/10/21, 10:58 AM Rosemount land sold for Home Depot warehouse | Finance & Commerce
https://finance-commerce.com/2021/10/rosemount-land-sold-for-home-depot-warehouse/1/3
Seefried Industrial Properties recently bought land for its upcoming distribution project in Rosemount. (Submitted image:
MacGregor Associates Architects)
Rosemount land sold for Home Depot warehouse
By: Kelly Busche October 26, 2021 4:10 pm
Seefried Industrial Properties has purchased two vacant lots in Rosemount for $10.025 million, with plans to build a
rail-connected distribution facility.
The city approved the developer’s plans in August, which detail the construction of a 417,600-square-foot
warehouse and distribution building along with 210,400 square feet of outdoor storage space. The facility will be
located in Rosemount’s business park, and public records show the Home Depot will occupy the facility.
The Atlanta-based developer purchased one of the properties from Pahl Family Limited Partnership for $5.125
million, and the other from JJT Financial LP for $4.9 million. Seefried operated as Seefried PSO Rosemount LLC in
the transactions, according to electronic certificates of real estate value.
Seefried has worked on Twin Cities projects before, including the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Shakopee. The
developer constructed the 2.3 million-square-foot facility in 2016, according to Finance & Commerce.
The Rosemount properties are along the railway that runs next to Minnesota State Highway 3, and are also south of
150th Street West. District offices for Independent School District 196 are across the highway from the properties. A
scattering of commercial and restaurant properties is less than half a mile northwest of the site, and the University
of Minnesota’s UMore Park is to the east.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to
the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settings ACCEPT
11/10/21, 10:58 AM Rosemount land sold for Home Depot warehouse | Finance & Commerce
https://finance-commerce.com/2021/10/rosemount-land-sold-for-home-depot-warehouse/2/3
The city-approved plans detail extending Boulder Avenue south, making a road that would run along the eastern
edge of the property. The site will also be connected to the rail system. Two railroad spurs — or a type of railroad
track that branches off the main line to allow customers to load and unload railcars — are also included in the
project’s plans.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development awarded $375,000 to the city this year for
the project, which is titled Home Depot USA, Inc. The funds are meant to help businesses expand, according to
DEED’s website.
Located in the city’s business park, the project will take up more than 71 acres, and a screening wall and chain link
fencing will enclose the site. MacGregor Associates Architects, based in Atlanta, led design of the project, which is
called “Project Osprey,” according to city documents.
The business park still has an estimated 300 acres of land available for development, said Eric Van Oss, Rosemount’s
economic development coordinator.
“We’ve had quite a bit of land that has been … shovel-ready. Within the last year, we’ve seen quite a bit of interest,”
Van Oss said.
The city is constructing new rail lines and road connections in the park, which has seen other recent industrial
projects finish and more being proposed, he said.
The city has also set a focus on developing its County Road 42 corridor, in anticipation of a doubling population and
continued growth in its housing stock. A study released last summer provides guidance for future development
along the corridor, which could include business parks, industrial, retail, green space, mixed uses, recreation and
more, according to reporting from Finance & Commerce.
Land in the corridor zoned for business parks and industrial projects has received heightened attention, as the
number of requests for information has nearly tripled in the past year, Van Oss said.
“We’ve had quite a bit of interest — anything from distribution to manufacturing to kind of a hybrid [project] —
there’s just been a lot of interest looking for … that business park land,” Van Oss said.
RELATED: Rosemount identifies corridor for development
Like this article? Gain access to all of our great content with a month-to-month subscription. Start
your subscription here.
ABOUT KELLY BUSCHE
Kelly joined Finance & Commerce in late 2020 as an economic developer reporter. She's a 2019 graduate of the Universityof Minnesota, where she double majored in journalism and political science. During her time there, she worked at thestudent-ran newspaper, the Minnesota Daily, and eventually became the paper's editor in chief. She's held internships with
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to
the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settings ACCEPT
11/10/21, 10:58 AM St. Anthony: Spectro Alloys invests $10 million in its aluminum-recycling business - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/st-anthony-spectro-alloys-invests-10-million-in-its-aluminum-recycling-business/600113955/1/4
___
BUSINESS
St. Anthony: Spectro Alloys invests $10
million in its aluminum-recycling
business
By Neal St. Anthony (https://www.startribune.com/neal-st-anthony/6370535/) Star Tribune
NOV EM BER 7, 2021 — 2:00PM
Spectro Alloys of Rosemount is investing $10 million to make its Rosemount recycling
plant, the Upper Midwest's largest processor of industrial aluminum, safer and more
energy efficient.
In May, Spectro Alloys settled an air-pollution issue with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), paying a $110,000 civil penalty and installing about $250,000
worth of pollution-control equipment on one of its furnaces.
Spectro Alloys President Luke Palen, whose family has owned the company since 1989,
said the company already had planned improvements that far exceeded that fix.
"These investments demonstrate our commitment to continuous innovation for the
environment and our community," Palen said last week. "We proposed an equipment
upgrade that … was well beyond what was required [by EPA]."
In addition to the upgrade of one of its three furnaces, Spectro just completed a new $3
million "baghouse" and related equipment.
Baghouses are attached to furnaces to capture emissions. Spectro's new baghouse goes
well beyond government and industry standards in terms of worker safety, pollution
abatement and energy efficiency, Palen said.
S P E CT R O A L L OYS
An architect’s rendering of Spectro Alloys’
expansion.
ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE
A Spectro Alloys worker, pictured in 2018,
transported aluminum ingots that the company
produces from recycled industrial aluminum for
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
11/10/21, 10:58 AM St. Anthony: Spectro Alloys invests $10 million in its aluminum-recycling business - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/st-anthony-spectro-alloys-invests-10-million-in-its-aluminum-recycling-business/600113955/2/4
The new baghouse, where red-hot, 28-pound aluminum ingots arrive from the furnace,
will be cooled by ambient air instead of huge fans using a lot of energy.
"The big improvement is the environment for the workers working with finished
product," Palen said. "When I started working in the plant as a teenager, you could only
put the cast aluminum on pallets by hand, with a shovel. We've gone to robotic
palletizing. It's very hot metal that comes off the end of the casting line, from the
furnace. This is much safer."
Spectro also has broken ground on a 70,000-square-foot warehouse addition to its
90,000-square-foot facility that will be heated with waste heat from the production
process.
The new warehouse, to be completed next spring, also will reduce truck traffic and make
shipping more efficient because Spectro will not need to use a smaller secondary
warehouse nearby for finished-good temporary storage.
In addition to capturing and recycling waste heat, the warehouse will be rigged for solar
arrays and the grounds will get a landscaping makeover.
Spectro is financing the upgrades and additions with equity and debt.
Palen, who said revenue and profitability varies depending upon aluminum prices,
declined to quantify Spectro's sales and profitability.
Spectro purchases aluminum scrap, from radiators to siding, cars, old planes,
lawnmowers and other equipment. In 2015, Spectro installed scrap-sorting equipment
and two reverberatory furnaces.
Spectro ships about 2,000 tons weekly worth of 28-pound aluminum ingots, or about 90
truckloads. Scrap and finished aluminum prices have soared this year.
Spectro gets virtually all its scrap from U.S. producers of recycled feedstock. About half
the aluminum products manufactured in America are made from virgin-mined bauxite
and most of that is imported from China, using coal power.
"We use 95% less energy and generate 95% less carbon dioxide," Palen said.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
11/10/21, 10:58 AM St. Anthony: Spectro Alloys invests $10 million in its aluminum-recycling business - StarTribune.com
https://www.startribune.com/st-anthony-spectro-alloys-invests-10-million-in-its-aluminum-recycling-business/600113955/3/4
Using recycled aluminum, whether from a lawnmower casing or a beverage can, saves
95% of the energy used to produce a product from virgin aluminum. And aluminum can
be reused many times without losing strength.
And increasing number of manufacturers want to tout "recycled content" as industry
warms to decreasing carbon emissions They are the chief culprit cited by scientists for
climate change that is resulting in more-volatile weather that has huge economic as well
as environmental costs.
"About 50% of the world's aluminum comes from China and is produced by coal power,"
Palen said. "Our aluminum feed scrap is nearly 100% domestic, with a bit from Canada.
"Demand for sustainably-sourced, efficiently-produced raw material is good and it will
get better, particularly as the focus increases on energy reduction and carbon
mitigation," he said.
Palen said the investment in automation, safety and energy-conserving technology has
increased the productivity of Spectro's 135 employees.
"We're hiring and we will increase employment," Palen said. "With no experience, we'll
teach people to drive a forklift and other jobs. A lot of people on the factory floor make
$50,000 to $70,000. Plus a phenomenal health-insurance package."
The Recycling Association of Minnesota says the energy saved from recycling one ton of
aluminum is equivalent to the amount of electricity an average home uses in a year.
Using recycled aluminum also uses less water and generates far less carbon pollution,
the chief culprit driving climate change and increasingly volatile and expensive weather
disasters.
More than two-thirds of aluminum ever produced is still in use today, according to the
industry, thanks to reuse and recycling.
Neal St. Anthony has been a Star Tribune business columnist/reporter since 1984.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T