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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP July 9, 1997 :J CITY of ANDOVER Andover City Council Special Meeting Agenda July 9, 1997 Andover City Hall 6:00 p.m. 1. Call to Order 2. Focus Session - Andover CommerciallIndustrial Park 3. Adjournment .- ._- - - _.--~.~-- -, - ' ----~------- .- ....... .._,- __, _'4_'...___' ... . UfJfJ?Z¿: " [~¿~ ð/::Jj II CITY of ANDOVER 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304· (612) 755-5100 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JULY 9, 1997 MINUTES A Special Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order on Jul y 9, 1997, 6:18p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Hanson Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota, for a Focus Session regarding the Andover Commercial/Industrial Park. Councilmembers present: Mayor McKelvey (arrived at 6:27 p.m.), Dehn, Knight (left at 7:10 p.m.), Kunza, Orttel Councilmembers absent: None Also present: City Engineer, Scott Erickson City Planner, John Hinzman Community Development Director, Dave Carlberg City Administrator, Richard Fursman FOCUS SESSION - ANDOVER COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL PARK Colleen J. Nelson and Sara Rothholz Weiner of The Leonard Parker Associates and William C. Tobin of Tobin Real Estate Company conducted the focus session for the Andover Commercial/Industrial Park. Those present introduced themselves and stated their expectations for this session. (Mayor McKelvey arrived at this time, 6 :27 p.m.) Mr. Tobin then outlined the obj ecti ves for the evening: create a vision for the Ci ty of Andover; market realities and examples; articulate a vision for the 80-acre commercial site; define specific objectives; and discuss the next step. Create a Vision for the City of Andover: The discussion centered around describing what Andover should be in ten years. The following suggestions and comment.s were made~ - Preserve the reason people moved to Andover, that is for space. Maintain the rural setting. - No commercial development beyond what the community needs. - Orderly development. - Commercial development will not be heavy because the transportation system will not support it. - The majority of the residents are professionals. - Very little rental housing. Mostly single family housing and some senior housing. Less dense housing. - - -_.._._.~- .... It Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - July 9, 1997 Page 2 - possibly some cultural amenities will develop within the next ten years. - Focal point will be the City Hall complex, park and schools, but there will not necessarily be a downtown retail center. - Commercial area of the City would center around the Hanson Boulevard and Bunker Lake Boulevard corridors. This industrial park will be the prime business district. Architecture should include low and high buildings with a campus atmosphere. - Population of Andover projected for 40,000. - Growing up in Andover, children will remember the schools and family oriented recreational facilities with some unique attractions to bring in other visitors to the community. - Mass transit. Market Realities and Examples: Mr. Tobin advised in developing the commercial park, three issues must be kept in mind: 1} macro trends; 2) economic feasibility; aad 3} nature. Markets are cyclical, and the last five years have been very good for commercial. It is a good cycle now. Andover is already realizing that now with two health care facilities coming to the City. The retail market seems to be going back to the neighborhood shopping center and away from the regional malls. He suggested one thing the Council should consider is jump starting the commercial park, that is building the first building for either rent or sale. Mr. Tobin stated another point to consider is staying with the plan even in the lean years. In marketing the park, decide what points of differentiation this park has and sell them hard. That differentiation could be perceived labor availability; the economics of moving to this park because of taxes, economic incentives or the cost of the land; or the response time from the request through the approval process. The Council preferred clean high-tech businesses in the park, leanin] toward setting high standards through covenants and restrictions. They also felt they would be willing to wait for those types of businesses no matter how many years it takes to fully develop the park. (Councilmember Knight left at this time, 7:10 p.m.) Ms. Weiner then showed a series of slides on various commercial parks developed since the 19S0s, how they are incorporated into the community and their compatibility with the surrounding neighbors, how nodes of activities can be provided to connect with the remainder of the community, and how parks can be incorporated into the commercial park layout. ~ --- -¡.......--- --~-_..... -, .., I [ Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - July 9, 1997 Page 3 The Council felt a unique feature of this park could be park and trail amenities for the employees in the Commercial Park. Ms. Weiner also had several slides showing the layout of parkins and trails to illustrate their compatibility. The Council recessed at this time, 8:00; reconvened at 8:10 p.m. Articulate a Vision for the 80-Acre Commercial Park: The discussion then centered on creating a vision for the Commercial Park. The following comments and suggestions were made: - Bunker Lake Boulevard is slated to be four lane with limited access to this site and a lighted intersection at Jay Street. The county has said it would improve the road sooner if the City is willing to contribute financially to that project. - Consideration may be given to having the major entry to the park at the side street, not off Bunker Lake Boulevard. - Setbacks and screening are needed along Bunker Lake Boulevard. - Create district areas or zones within the park for retail, office, and light industry. - Need to dedicate an interior road within the 80 acres for access to individual parcels. - After the roads and ponding, about 60 buildable acres will remain. - Use the large pond in the area as a central retention pond for storm drainage for the entire site. Develop it as an amenity to the area. - It will be an integrated development with mixed heights, mixed uses in a campus setting. - Possible use of a pet clinic, bowling alley, off-sale liquor, theater or others should be clustered. - Users should be long-term, professional, paper oriented, high tech. Legal, banking, insurance and data processing are possibilities. - Mr. Tobin felt the market would want a high quality area for office buildings, which would be this site as opposed to north of Bunker Lake Boulevard. - Limit signage to monuments. - Develop design covenants. ,- ... ,- r""'~·--· - --..--.- ,... .-. - [ ¡ . Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - July 9, 1997 Page 4 - Industry would be light trucks and trailers; no outside storage; no auto-related services except possibly new car dealers. - Develop amenities of a trail system, picnic areas, landscaping, etc. , for the employees of the park. - Buildings should be related in some manner to provide a campus atmosphere. Brick. Landscaping. Voca~ulary of materials. - No housing units in the park. The taller buildings most likely will be office buildings. - Compatible designs for businesses adjacent to the residential areas. - The park should contribute to a focus on Andover. - The area would support a hotel or motel. - There was a concern over food franchises because of their tendency to go out of business. Also, there was no desire to have a fad food store on every corner. Mr. Tobin suggested restrictive zoning or deed restrictions which would provide for specific uses at specific locations in the park. Covenants could require the buildings to be of multipurpose design compatible with the rest of the park. - Big box retail is not consistent with the type of development: desired here. Specific Objectives: Capital improvements: Mr. Tobin asked how much capital is the City prepared to invest for land acquisition, infrastructure improvements, etc. Mr. Fursman estimated $14 million with capitalized interest. That amount is supported by the Tax Increment Financing district and would not necessarily need to be paid back. The payback is not in dollars; it is an attitude that the blighted junkyard area is gone. The desired payback is whatever the market will bear. Given that, Mr. Tobin stated then the City can afford to wait until the businesses it wants come along, or it can give the land away or provide other incentives if it desires. Time frame: The Council felt it wanted some immediate development, that is within one to two years, but wanted full development within 15 years, the length of the TIF program. Risk: Mr. Tobin asked if the City would want to construct the first building and then either rent or sell it off. The Council felt that would be unlikely. The City will have to indemnify for the environmental risks, though it is waiting for a release from the PCA. -- -- r·-"·-- - - --..--- ,_.. -. . ~. " '[ Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - July 9, 1997 Page 5 Job creation: The Council felt the quality of jobs is important, that the jobs must be such that they can support a family. They were interested in quality jobs to enable the City to access state economic incentives, though they would not necessarily seek out those incentives. TIF incentives: Mr. Tobin noted the most common approach has been t" give the land for free. He reviewed the difference between the front end and back end approach, stating the back end allows the City more control. The back end is really a pay-as-you-go method where a business would buy the land, then each year they would get back a certain amount of the taxes. He emphasized the City must decide the kinds of economic support it will provide in terms of land give away, TIF funding, site improvements. The Council noted the businesses in the first Commercial Park paid $0.55 to $0.65 per square foot for their lots. Mr. Tobin stated that is very competitive for industrial land. To do anything less may be justified by the fact that this is a redevelopment area. He encouraged the Council to decide what the competitive edge for this park will be. Natural environment: Ms. Weiner pointed out there is a tremendous opportunity to leverage existing resources for a parkway system that has already begun to be implemented. It starts at the Bunker Lake recreational facility, a trail system west along Bunker Lake Boulevard and through this 80-acre commercial park, continuing west down Bunker Lake Boulevard to the Crooked Lake facility, to Round Lake and the Kelsey-Round Lake Park and eventually to the Rum river. It is potentially a beautiful trail system. The Council suggested one of the unique features of the commercial park could be the open space amenitie'3 which would be used by employees during the week and utilized by the residents in the evenings and on weekends. Next Step: Mr. Tobin stated they will summarize the results of this meeting, and from that a specific land use plan and master plan should be created. Off-site issues must also be addressed such as the traffic. Is the City willing to contribute to the upgrading of Bunker Lake Boulevard? Then a physical rendering of the master plan can be done and a marketing and financial strategy determined. The Council felt a goal would be to have the master development plan and platting done by December 31, 1997. EPA approval or indemnification by the City of the environmental risks is to be determined, though Staff anticipated EPA approval shortly. -- ._ "..n___ --..--_.-.. -. ... r:r Special Andover Ci ty Council Meeting Minutes - July 9, 1997 Page 6 The Council also suggested the item be placed on the August 5 regular meeting to consider authorizing the remainder of the contract proposed by The Leonard Parker Associates and Tobin Real Estate Company. In the mean time Staff will meet with the consultants, review the proposal, determine if there are areas that can be done in-house; and if so, redesign the contract. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully b~~tt~ª, \,~~~ Marcella A. Peach Recording Secretary - ._--- ~--.--~-.- - -- --- ---