Loading...
5. HRSR 05-01-2006ITEM # 5. fiver MEMORANDUM TO: Housing & Redevelopment Authority FROM: Catherine Mehelich, Director of Economic DevelopmentG/~%~ DATE: May I, 2006 SUBJECT: Downtown Revitalization Project Update Attachments • River's Edge March 8, 2006 Meeting Minutes Background Development Agreement On February 28, 2006 the Amended and Restated Development Agreement by and between the City of Elk River and MetroPlains Development LLC was completed and fully executed by the Mayor, City Administrator and Vern Hanson of MetroPlains. As you may recall a refinement of the language within the Development Agreement was necessary in order to allow MetroPlains to obtain and sell their tax increment financing (TIF) note upfront to investors, rather than after construction is completed. Recent Activities The Bluffs Construction Financing and Construction The execution of the revised Development Agreement then led to the successfizl closing on the permanent construction financing for The Bluffs of Elk River project on Apri14`". Subsequently, the final items required for the building permit were completed and the permit was issued April 7`" with construction commencing April 10`". MetroPlains has reported that to date less than half of the 67 condominium units remain available for sale. The sales trailer was recently relocated from the construction site to the designated staging area located in the city parking lot north of Highway 10. A 12-month construction period is anticipated for completion of The Bluffs of Elk Kiver. The Bank of Elk River Expansion Construction work began Apri124`" on The Bank's expansion project. Prior to construction staff coordinated a meeting with the bank's contractor, VanMan Architects & Builders and the construction manager for The Bluffs project. The purpose of the meeting was to make introductions, discuss the city's building inspections expectations and encourage the two projects to communicate and coordinate as much work as possible in order to minimize the Downtown Revitalization Project Update May 1, 2006 HRA Meeting Page2of2 disruption to downtown during construction. A 12-month construction period is anticipated for completion of the expansion. Status of Jackson Place project Elk River Municipal Utilities recently relocated an electric vault and manhole in anticipation of the Jackson Place construction. MetroPlains announced last week that MN Housing Finance Agency (NIHFA) awarded the recent application for tax credits toward the Jackson Place development. MetroPlains has completed all of the contingencies outlined in the Development Agreement to allow for the city's transfer of the Jackson Block property and for construction to commence. Closing on the transfer of the property is anticipated to occur in early June. MetroPlains has communicated its intentions to commence construction of Jackson Place immediately following the transfer of property. A 12-month construction period is anticipated fox Jackson Place. Next Steps Staff is working to coordinate the following critical issues which will be discussed as separate items on the HRA's agenda: • River's Edge Commons Park plan and construction • Communications and Marketing plan • Traffic Flow and Public Safety plan Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes Wednesday, March 8, 2006 The meeting was called to order at 8AM. Attending were: Roger Hebeisen, Cliff Lundberg, Jeff Gongoll, Wendy Simenson, Heidi Steinmetz (Assistant Director of Economic Development), Jim Boyle, Police Chief Beahen, Bill Maertz (Park and Rec Director), Scott Clark (Community Development Director). Treasurer's Report from Jim Simpson: 2945.69. We are still waiting on the check from MetroPlains for Santa and Reindeer) Received dues from Cliff Lundberg and Antiques Downtown. Minutes from February Meeting were reviewed and Accepted. Old Business: Revitalization Plan Update from Heidi and Scott. Metro Plains has signed the amended and restated development agreement with the City of Elk River, their construction loan for the Bluff Block is being finalized (one half of the residential units have been sold, MetroPlains themselves have purchased the business space). The last step before they begin construction is to sell the Tax Increment Note which they are projecting will happen by April 15t" 2006. MetroPlains has already invested over $2,100,000 of their own money on this project. Construction on the Bluff block is forecasted to begin after the sale of the Tax Increment Note. Construction on Jackson Square is projected to begin 3 months after the start of the Bluff Block. Traffic flow changes on Jackson Ave will occur when construction commences on the Jackson Square Property. It is anticipated that The Bank of Elk River will be starting their construction in Mid Apri12006. At this time, they plan to manage their construction mostly on site, however after final pre- construction meetings, this may change. We will be communicating with Rivers Edge what the final outcome will be. There maybe several occasions where they will have to block off Main Street for the big cranes to move panels in. After construction their parking areas will be restored to their current sizes. Rivers Edge Park and Parking Issues: Rivers Edge members are concerned about the removal of the 4 parking spaces adjacent to the Rivers Edge Park downtown. The loss of four spots is significant in light of the closing of the Jackson Square Parking Lot. Currently on weekend nights the existing street parking on Main Street, along Jackson Ave and the stalls in Jackson Square Lot are almost all being used. With the loss of the Jackson Square lot there will not be many visible or close by spots for the Businesses between the Bluff Block and Jackson Ave for customer parking. Bill Maertz and Chief Beahen addressed this. Parking Statue 169.34 states that you can not have parking spots within the defined area of an intersection. It is a public safety issue to have cars backing up into the intersection and crosswalks. The spots that will be removed are in fact in the intersection area. Wendy and Cliff stressed to Bill and Chief Beahen that the parking spots on Main Street are important. Bill said that the City is trying to add 2 more spaces by the Sunshine Depot. The handicapped space that is being removed will have to be reassigned to another existing space. There was discussion about the King Ave lot. Chief Beahen said that very few tickets have been written recently and that people are following the parking rules. The King Ave lot has made parking adjacent to businesses more accessible to the public. Wendy said that Kemper Drug appreciates the easing of parking for her store. She is concerned however that the businesses on Main Street will be adversely affected by the loss of the Jackson Square Lot because of the lack of visible parking for their customers. And with the proposed increase in traffic downtown from new businesses and residents there will be a greater demand for parking downtown. Chief Beahen told us that downtown Anoka has just received a grant to build a parking ramp in their downtown and suggested that someone from the City talk to Anoka and find out if it was something that we could apply for. Scott mentioned that Elk River may not be eligible for many of the programs available to communities located within the Met Council area. Wendy said that it would've been nice if a ramp could have been built between Jackson Square and The Bank of Elk River. Heidi told us that there had been numerous discussions between MetroPlains and The Bank of Elk River about putting in a ramp between them but that the bank was not interested in partnering with MetroPlains. Downtown Rivers Edge Park: Bill Maertz brought schematics of the park. The layout looks nice and it has a lot of interesting features. It will be multi tiered. Bill will make the plans available to send out with the minutes. There will be electricity at the river level for the performance area. Wendy suggested that he talk with Dave Raymond who has coordinated using that area previously for performances for the Elk River Area Arts Alliance to address electricity, set up and access issues for holding performances. Wendy mentioned that it would be nice to have a spot for some sculpture or have a way to make it more unique to Elk River. There will be a kiosk at the top that will give the history of the river area. Cliff suggested that something be added to describe the mural also. There will be a water spout fountain at the top that will run during the summer. Wendy requested that there be electricity available on the street level for decorating for the holidays. Group advertising downtown: Wendy and Marlys will be working on this in the next month. The meeting was adjourned at 9AM. Unless something important comes up, we will not have a meeting in April. Please thank our City Representatives for taking time out of their busy schedules to come to the Rivers Edge Meeting to answer our questions and listen to our concerns.