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y Zoos
:us on Wright & Sherburne
Minnesota Real Estate Journal
c River's resources, location crttrnct massive daha c
iness park lands
het, UnitedHealth
any community development
officials work hard to find a
an industry where they can
~p expertise and a respected rep-
d Catherine Mehelich, Elk
's economic development direc-
ishes she could say she worked
o land two major computer data
sin the last two years.
th is, they called her. And their
lave sparked others.
ie development of the two data
s has really put us on the map in
dustry," she says.
elps that the calls came from two
familiar -and very large -
anies. Target Corp. and United
h Group have chosen this Sher-
County city to house high-tech,
security data centers worth about
ullion and $20 million each. Tar-
center is complete and United
1's is under construction.
helich says the workforces of the
rs are fairly small, but they earn
Nages. The major attraction is in
gh value of the centers and the.
ment inside.-
te value to the county and the city
ly in the tax base," she says.
initial inquiry from Target was
ample of how small-town eco-
; development officials have to be
~ react quickly, think on their feet
PHOTO: DONJACOBSON
Target's new data center in Elk River taps an abundant water supply.
and be able to work with a broad range
of opportunities whenever they present
themselves.
For example, Elk River has a tradi-
tional industrial park and has done a
good job of promoting its location,
amenities and reasonable land costs.
Target took the list of amenities to a
new level.
"For a large corporate user, one of
the most important factors is the relia-
bility of the data center," Mehelich
says.
Data centers require reliable water,
electric
Target can't have the system shut
down as .thousands of people are swip-
ing their credit cards at the cash regis-
ter or paying bills online. Mehelich
says the companies chose Elk River for
its ample supply of water for cooling
expensive equipment and because of
join hi~ech in Elk River
g
ing various carrier Ethernet solu-
;usinesses in Elk River, Cam- tions," says JaredHolm, a manager
budge, Otsego and other cities with NorthStar Access. "When. we
'Vright and Sherburne counties are , analyzed the Actelis product offer-
ung access to a new type of high- ing, we looked closely at spectrum
ed telecommunications technolo- frequency. crossover, since we use
galled Carrier Ethernet Over Cop- both ADSL and VDSL in the same.
which is being deployed by local binders, so frequency crossover was
;phone exchange carrier.. North- a major concern "'
r Access LLC, based in Big Lake, One deployment includes a retail
m. store in North Branch, Minn., which
dorthStar Access, a competitive connects to;,a centralroffice located
the proximity of its Great River Ener-
gy power plant.
While Mehelich didn't work to
recruit Target, she says she did have to
work hard to keep the deal moving for-
ward.
"Our ability to process their complex
proposals quickly was important," she
says. "That's a feather in our hat. It
really made for a great relationship: '
Sherburne County Administrator
Brian Benson says that the challenge
for small town officials is to be pre-
paredfor anything, but not to sit around
and wait for something to happen.
Benson says the reasons business
choose such locations are so varied
they defy easy generalizations. Recent
Sherburne County success stories
include a pipeline company and two
construction companies, as well as the
data centers and a medical clinic and
retail in Big Lake (see separate story).
And while big corporate offices
aren't moving to the area yet, some
smaller companies in the northwest
suburbs are giving the rural areas a new
look when they consider expansion.
"Some companies have found that a
good number of their workers have
moved up here," Benson says. "In
some cases we have companies follow-
ing their workforce: '
Developers are watching the area
closely in an effort to anticipate the
trends and be ready to make the most
of their opportunities.
"I think you're going to see contin-
ued growth all ong the I-94 corridor,"
large population," h
reason Best Buy dig
Bloomington insteac
Poppe says indu:
seeing land costs ri
boom grew, and he 1
awhile for the marke
"The national de`
around and buy up
lars," lie says of tl
builders. "As all the
ers have pulled out
some unrealistic exl
their land is worth: '
Poppe stresses tl
use today usually do
industry but means
tion, light assembly
that have done w~
Buildings are taller,
to stack goods high
building's footprint.
For example, Popl
Colliers are mark
Rogers Distribution
square foot building
foot clear height ce
dock doors with a po
and the flexibility to
more than one tenan
"It's all more se:
says of industrial prc
The interstate h
through central and ~
state make .the ar
regional distribution
as'the Wal-Mart cent
the Walgreen's cent
Minnesota isn't goi
player in truck or
portation.
"Your main cities
are Chicago and Indi
"We're kind of at thf
Downtown Elk F
struggles
Sometimes an ides
hits a snag. A dow
"new urban" center
apartments, condo;
unveiled with high
opened this fall with
St. Paul-based M
opment LLC develop
and its rental units v