HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRA MINUTES 04221986CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES
April 22, 1986
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Sundland at 9:11 P.M.
Present for roll call: Sundland, Vice Chair Enrooth, Secretary/Treasurer Marks,
and Commissioners Makowske and Ranallo.
Also present: David Childs, Executive Director; and, William Soth, Attorney.
Motion by Secretary/Treasurer Marks and seconded by Commissioner Ranallo to approve
as submitted the minutes of the H.R.A. meeting held January 28, 1986.
Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Commissioner Makowske and seconded by Vice Chair Enrooth to approve the
following claims as listed in the April 22, 1986 H.R.A. agenda packet:
$357.55 to the Dorsey & Whitney law firm for legal services rendered during
January, 1986 related to the Kenzie Terrace Phase I and Old Highway 8 redevelopment
projects;
$1,800 to Moody's Investors Service for services rendered in relation to the issuance
of $2,125,000 in Minnesota General Obligation Bonds for H.R.A. projects; and
• $365 to Dorsey & Whitney for legal services related to the substitution of developers
on the Kenzie Terrace Phase I and Kenzie 202 projects.
Motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Soth indicated he had just returned that morning from a trip to Europe and gave
a brief account of that trip before giving his recommendations related to the 9th
amendment to the Kenzington project agreement which had been included in the agenda
packet. The Attorney said he had no major disagreements with the document which
had been drafted by the developers' attorneys, pretty much in accordance with his
own suggestions, perceiving it would be essential that the City not approveanything
in the way of substitution of developers which could result in the loss of__ 6.6
lev_he
erage t $400,00'0 Letter of Credit provided. — ---
Mr. Soth indicated he would be meeting with representatives from Arkell and META
the following day and expected the amendment approval would probably be handled
during the Special Council meeting the Council had scheduled earlier that evening
for April 29th. However, he said, no H.R.A. action on the documents would be
required that evening because they were only drafts at this point.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Attorney encouraged the H.R.A. members to let
him know if they had any concerns related to the age requirements or other stipula-
tions in the proposed condominium documents which he said, at one point or another,
they would be asked to approve.
. The Executive Director reiterated as he had stated in his April 18th memorandum, that
theydeveloper anticipated occupancy in the Kenzington shortly after closing and
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because the H.R.A. would have to take some action in regard to Certificates of
Occupancy to be issued for those instances, there might be a need for further
• discussion with the developers regarding an indication they had recently made
that they might be seeking permission to split the proposed larger units because
the smaller units seemed to be selling better. Mr. Childs indicated he had warned
the developers that they should be prepared to address H.R.A. resistance to any
proposal which would call for a further increase in density.
Commissioner Ranallo recalled that META had been involved in the last changes which
had been made and had assured him at that time there would be no further requests
for enlargement of the project. The consensus was that the H.R.A. would encourage
no further increases in the number of Kenzington units.
Mr. Childs stated that the Economic Development District which had been established
when the Housing and Redevelopment District had been set up for the redevelopment
of the southern commercial portion of the City had expired because of the lack
of activity th-e last three years, but he indicated he perceived there might now be
a need to reinstate that district to provide some source of funding for the improve-
men�the City must no_w take in that area, including the upgrading of Coolidge and
undergrounding of the tangled ut ITty lines in that area, and the reconstruction of
Kenzie Terrace medians all the way up to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to
provide a better traffic flow to accomodate the new developments in that area.
With that thought in mind, Mr. Childs said he had met with Dick Krier and the -
redevelopment -consulting firm Mr. Krier had recommended, Dalgren, Shardlow and
Uban, to request they submit a proposal similar to the one Mr. Krier had initially
developed for the first Kenzie improvements. This proposal for services would
• cost the City nothing unless the H.R.A. entered into an agreement with them to
utilize their services.
When Commissioner Ranallo questioned why the City and not the merchants and the
shopping center owners, who had shown no interest in taking advantage of the help the
district could offer them to make their own improvements, was going to have to
pay for the proposal, Vice Chair Enrooth told him if the H.R.A. wanted to proceed
with the improvements of that area they had to make to "clean up the eyesore down
there", only tax increment monies were available to get the job done. The Com-
missioner was also told that as far as the tenant merchants who had indicated they
wanted nothing done which would result in their rents being raised, went, they
might just as well understand right now that just the increase in the number of
persons living in the area would without a doubt, cause a raise in their rents
without any improvements at all.
Mr. Childs indicated he certainly would be the last person to suggest "giving a
free ride" to the center owners, but said he perceived now was the time to reinstate
the original _intent _of_ma_ki_ng_l,ow, interest loans available to the—les`eFdl-ders to
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�, make improvements to their own interiors, but not to finance the upgra
store exteriors orwalkways which were projects the owners could finance themselves
or could seek Industrial Development financing for. From the standpoint of protect-
ing the City from blight, the Executive Director said he perecived the City would
be forced to make at least some of the improvements he had suggested soon.
Commissioner Makowske commented that because it had taken the H.R.A. so long to get
the residential development started, some of the merchants might have forgotten
• the improvement options they had available to them and she perceived the improve-
ments the City is making to its own property on the northern edge of this district
might prove to be the impetus to getting something done in the other part of the
shopping center.
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Chair Sundland said he had been told by several of the new merchants that Gordon
• Fox, the former center management person, had warned them that the square footage
amounts they were now being charged would not be stable because with all the
improvements the City is making in the area and that the owners were now proposing
to spend two or three million dollars themselves to upgrade the shopping center to
match. The Chair also indicated he had told any merchants who had indicated they
"wanted the City to leave them alone" that with the betterment of the customer
base with all the improvements, it was inevitable the-rents would-6e rai-sed _even
if the owner failed to follow through on any improvements.
Commissioner Ranallo indicated he now understood the reestablishment of the Economic
Development District would only provide a vehicle for the City to make its own
improvements in the area, and was not intended to provide a base of aid for merchants
who don't want to do anything for themselves. He suggested, however, that the
merchants might be contacted before the proposal is presented, to encourage them
as leaseholders to apply pressure to the center owners to start making improvements
to their property to match the City's efforts in that area.
Secretary/Treasurer Marks recalled that even when the Task Force had first worked
on the Comprehensive Plan for the redevelopment of that area, there had been
recognition that there would be some merchant resistance to any change and he
speculated once the Economic Development District is back in place it might
provide a tool for changing the center ownership or encouraging its present owners
to make the changes their managers had been talking about for so long. Mr. Childs
said he had gotten several inquiries about buying the center and the two station
owners on Kenzie Terrace had both come to him regarding the use of Economic
Development District funds to upgrade their own operations.
• Vice Chair Enrooth reiterated that he perceived it was the City's responsibility
to rid itself of the "eyesore" in that area and said he would like to take another
look at establishing an economic district which would finance those improvements.
Motion by Vice Chair Enrooth and seconded by Secretary/Treasurer Marks to adjourn
the Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting at 9:50 P.M.
Motion carried unanimously.
ID
Respectfully submitted,
Helen Crowe, Secretary