08-22-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Again, redevelopment of this area would clean up another mess in the City. However, one we need to be respectful of current ownership. If the Valor project falls apart, this is a great location for Public Works, but its availability could be some time in coming. County Road B2/Rice Street: Another top priority that is emerging is the acquisition of parcels on the north side of County Road B2 to enable the future widening of B2 for an additional left turn lane while also providing us with room for our sidewalk and some landscape /buffering treatments for Terrace Heights. Assuming we establish the TIF program for this area, we will need to determine parcel availability and a course of action. I have broached the subject briefly with Terrace Heights and it appears they are willing to consider an exchange of land that allows them to keep the same number of units in retum for giving us land for the B2 needs subject to being reimbursed for costs of relocating units and establishing utilities to the new sites. This project is very preliminary but will need our immediate attention if we move forward with the TIF project. Gateway Area: In theory, this should be one of the easier redevelopment options to occur as we have already addressed site control and have a development agreement in place with Sherman Associates, Inc. The former Delonais property is almost two acres in size and is waiting for the right project. There is also another pad (for a 4,500 square foot building) on the NW corner of Little Canada Road and Middle Street. However, we may want to rethink the development of that site, depending on how the balance of the Village at Little Canada project proceeds. Parking could be in short supply and additional development on that site could exacerbate this issue once the 26,000 square foot building is fully occupied. It should also be known that Mr. Sherman has TIF guarantees in place to generate the revenue we need to service our debt even if he does not complete the building projects. At some point, I would expect that to be a motivator for him to either develop the property, move it to someone else, or offer it back to us. Other opportunities may also exist in this area. However, it would seem to me we should finish off the open area before moving on to other sites unless a specific project presents itself that is financially feasible. Ryan Industrial Park: Given our recent land use discussions involving our I -1 zoned properties, the possibility of redeveloping this entire area has been discussed. In fact, one property owner thought it made sense for the future. The challenges will be site assembly, acquisition costs, soil problems (see Valor report in main agenda), and finding an interested party. A wise approach may be to talk with some of the large developers to determine if there would be any interest given the issues noted. We may be surprised at the interest (or lack thereof), but at least we would have a better feel for this possibility. It seems worth the effort as an attempt to solve the longstanding code issues. Round Lake Acquisitions: Staff has attempted to determine the interest on the part of the two westerly parcels still privately owned on Round Lake in selling to the City. One party did not respond and other