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-5- <br /> 1 the 1 ,000 square feet to be provided for the Chandler Place apartments, in this <br /> 2 building. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 Commissioner Madden said he could see the need to switch from condominiums to <br /> 5 rental because-of market changes`, but he was still concerned about_ addinq <br /> 6 33,000 square feet of commercial* because the consensus of the__-Task -Force hadbeen <br /> 7 that housing should be provided where the Saliterman property stood, which would <br /> 8 support the remaining commercial being condensed into a more viable shopping <br /> 9 center. Now, the Commissioner said, the City would be putting one of those <br /> 10 buildings back into commercial when the study group had agreed there was just too <br /> 11 much commercial in the area already. , Commissioner Madden said he had become very <br /> 12 concerned to hear the developers suggest one of the new spaces might be occupied <br /> 13 by a pharmacy when there were already two in the existing shopping center, and, <br /> 14 the Commissioner added, if the library moves to this location, another vacancy <br /> 15 would be created in that center. He said it was his perception that the Task <br /> 16 Force recommendations were "all going out the window" and adding 33,000 square <br /> 17 feet 'of commercial to this area would just be defeating the purpose .of the study. <br /> 18 Commissioner Madden later indicated that he found it hard to believe "the vacant <br /> 19 stores in the St. Anthony Shopping Center might only be an anomaly resulting from <br /> 20 the owners_ desire to operate in an economic vacuum", saying he had never understood <br /> 21 how "you can make money by losing money" . <br /> 22 <br /> 23 Commissioner Wagner said he perceived that, with new residents moving into the <br /> 24 area and with the addition of new types of services which draw more people into <br /> 25 the area, like a new library, or a restaurant, rather than to drain business away <br /> 26 from the merchants who are there now, the commercial might actually benefit them <br /> 27 by= attracting more customers to the area. <br /> 28 <br /> 29 Commissioner Hansen said he generally viewed the proposed project positively, <br /> 30 although he could see Commissioner Bjorklund' s point about the traffic. He said <br /> 31 he would like to see what would finally be proposed for that space because he had <br /> 32 heard over and over the same question from persons who were interested in the <br /> 33 Kenzington, "will there be new shops provided in the area?" . The Commissioner <br /> 34 indicated he perceived the key to the project's success would be the kind of <br /> 35 establishments which are put into the commercial space, because, from what he <br /> 36 had heard, he wasn't certain the stores in the existing center would provide the <br /> 37 services the seniors seemed to think they required. <br /> 38 <br /> 39 Commissioner Bowerman indicated he intended to make a motion of approval of the <br /> 40 entire project because he perceived the main focus should be on whether the City <br /> 41 of St. Anthony was going to go forward with a change for a major installation of <br /> 42 housing, with the public financing necessary to make it go, and that the commercial , <br /> 43 which the- Commissioner considered not to be very big when compared to other <br /> 44 commercial projects, should be only a secondary consideration, because the market <br /> 45 would determine how successful that would, be in the long run anyway, Commissioner <br /> 46 Bowerman added, the developers would certainly have to do something else with the <br /> 47 property if the commercial proved not to be economically feasible. <br /> 48 <br /> 49 Commissioner Madden indicated he believed the Task Force had foreseen the same <br /> 50 influx of people coming into the .area but had perceived they would be necessary. <br /> 51 to rebuild and support a viable shopping center. The Commissioner said he never <br /> i <br /> 52 doubted the new commercial space .would fill up immediately but was still con- <br /> 53 cerned that more vacancies _tn,.the existing shopping center would result. <br /> 54 <br /> 55 <br />