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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.a. Project Updates E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y Port Authority Meeting Date: August 16, 2022 AGENDA ITEM: Project Updates AGENDA SECTION: Old Business PREPARED BY: Eric Van Oss, Economic Development Coordinator AGENDA NO. 7.a. ATTACHMENTS: None. 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. After meeting with the new Port Chair, staff is changing the format of Port meetings. In order to facilitate new discussion regarding local economic development , the Chairperson’s Report and Commissioner Reports will be moved after the Consent Agenda. This is envisioned to be a brief 10-15 minute discussion among Commissioners regarding economic development project s, ideas, news, or concepts that they encountered over the pervious month. New Business will follow the Commissioner Reports. The meetings will conclude with a brief update on Old Business and Discussion. Projects in Progress Breweries/Tap Houses: OMNI Orchards: OMNI’s building permit has been pulled and total grading work has started. The City has approved two deferral agreements related to their building permit fees and SAC charges in June. Tap Society: Tap Society has decided not to move forward. Ron Clark Development will be exploring other options in conjunction with city staff. Dave Schmitz/North 20 Brewing: North 20 opened the July 4th holiday weekend to a strong turnout. The City held a ribbon cutting on July 14th. Israelson properties: Rosewood Commons at Highway 3/42: Plans have been submitted for the memory care and senior housing facility along with approvals needed for additional multi-family housing planned for the site. Rosewood Crossing: A building permit was issued for the next 32-unit apartment building in June. Rec Center/Life Time: The purchase agreement for approximately 26 acres of land and other relevant agreements were approved by the City Council on April 5th, 2022. The City’s website has a page dedicated to this project for additional information. Staff has begun to meet with the developers interested in portions of the eastern portion of the intersection. Staff expects conceptual proposals to begin to filter in this summer. Additionally, the Council and Port will likely see requests for residential projects on the northern end of the site. Staff is working with a housing developer on the Lennar owned western portion of the intersection. Life Time’s applications for a Preliminary Plat, Major PUD Amendment and Site Plan Review were recommended for approval by the Planning Commission in June and will be considered by the City Council for approval on August 16th. UMore Residential/Amber Fields: Maplewood Development is working with individual developers on the different housing types across the property. Grading and infrastructure work is underway. Staff has received applications for the first several phases of development totaling more than 1,000 housing units. Additional phases are currently being finalized for application. Currently there are plans for 422 units of single-family homes and 811 units of townhome or multifamily. Super America/Speedway: The property was placed in receivership with Lighthouse Management. Their role is to find care for the liability, assets and property etc. The City will require underground storage tanks be removed. Staff spoke with Lighthouse Management on August 11th and currently there are not new updates as the senior secured creditor continues to consider its options related to the property moving forward. The Home Depot/Project Osprey: Exterior utilities in progress. The extension of Boulder Avenue is taking place this fall / spring of 2023. Scannell Project: Initial site work has begun on the 585,000 square foot FedEx facility. CDA Property: Schafer Richardson signed a purchase agreement with the CDA on the Akron property. Staff continues to work with the CDA and Schafer Richardson on financing strategies for the affordable portion of their development. Part of the project will be affordable units and the developer plan to use CDA TIF and grants to cover a portion of the cost. Sweet Harvest Building: A lease agreement has been signed and building permit approved for work on this facility. The new tenant is Stonebrook Equipment Inc and they create custom vehicles and fleets for businesses. They will use the entire space in addition to making some further site improvements. Highway 3 and 46: Both sites on the eastern and western side of Highway 3 have prospective projects that are likely to submit plans this summer. Plans have been submitted for the Frana for a second Rosemount facility on the Western section of this site and will be considered by the Council this month. Mr. Wish: Mr. Wish opened the week of July 4th and staff held a ribbon cutting on July 14th. Thread and Clover: A new clothing boutique will be opening in Rosemount and a ribbon cutting is scheduled for September 6th. RFI and Inquires (February/March) Housing: Staff met with 3 developers interested in multifamily sites in Rosemount. The developers are at various stages in the site process, but all are focusing on the high-density sites near the Akron/42 intersection. Of the 5 large greenfield sites that have been designated for multifamily, either though the Comprehensive Plan or Commercial Visioning, 4 have active projects moving forward leaving just the Emerald Isle site available. Commercial/Services: Staff met with 2 developer interested in retail or commercial projects. Staff will provide an update on an RFI meeting that some Port Commissioners attended in May. Restaurant: Staff met with 1 restaurant user this month. Industrial: Staff had 2 inquires or discussions regarding Business Park, UMore, Opus, and County Road 46/Hwy 3 sites. OTHER Downtown Façade Grant: Five businesses have fully executed grant agreements. As mentioned at the December meeting, getting bids from contractors are proving to be the biggest hurdle in moving forward with projects, so staff is trying to be flexible with the timeline on façade improvements as many will likely be completed in 2022. One project has been completed and has submitted paid invoices. One project is scheduled to start at the end of July. Another project is in various stages and one tenant is still working on an agreement with the building owner as of July. One business is amending their approved activities on the grant application. Zoning Code Update RFP: Staff is working on an RFP for the previously discussed zoning code update. The Dakota County CDA Board recently approved the funding for this project utilizing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars. Staff selected HKGi as the consultant. The process staff envisions would include working closely with the Community Development Department through the update process, a joint session of the Council and Planning Commission, and then a public hearing on the proposed revisions. Work should begin within the next few weeks. Business Subsidy Policy: Staff is submitted on a final draft of this project which was approved via resolution at the June 21st Council meeting. The updated policy was sent to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to be officially recorded. Staff is working on draft agreements and applications that will be added to the site. Affordable Housing: Staff is working with two developers on affordable components on their projects. As the CDA is the County Ho using Authority, staff is encouraging developers to seek financial assistance through CDA programs—namely TIF. Staff is also working with developers to pursue grant opportunities that would also offset projects costs. Interest in affordable housing has inc reased. In addition to the two projects moving forward, staff has fielded several inquiries about other potential affordable projects. The City’s strategy for financial incentives on greenfield sites will be to primary rely on the CDA, while also looking for other funding opportunities via grants. Direct assistance from the City will be prioritized for redevelopment projects, particularly in the downtown area. Marketing: Staff has is scheduled to attend 3 events in the later half of 2022 focused on marketi ng Rosemount. The City will have a booth at the annual MNCAR Expo in October and staff will be on two panels for the Minneapolis Real Estate Journal—the Industrial Site Summit and the South Suburban Summit. At these events staff will focus on marketing ind ustrial sites in Rosemount as well as the Akron and 42 commercial corridor.