11/24/09 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Introduction: The City of Ramsey, situated along the Mississippi and Rum Rivers, is a northwest suburb of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ramsey is home today to over 23,500 residents and 400 thriving businesses with its population expected to grow to over 40,000 by the year 2030. The City is in the process of creating a unique downtown identity for itself to serve as a central gathering place for commerce and community, the Ramsey Town Center. The land use plan for this project area of 322 acres serves this growing suburban area by accommodating civic, office, commercial and retail development with housing integrated creatively around and nearby the future transit station on the Northstar Commuter Rail Service, anticipated to begin service in late 2011. Ramsey Town Center is characterized by a mix of goods and services that meets the needs of local residents and trade area visitors, provides a strong job and tax base and promotes pedestrian-oriented streets and an integrated park and trail system. The history of the project has been well documented in the local media and real estate world. In brief summary, in early 2007, the Ramsey Town Center project entered into bankruptcy with then developer Bruce Needegard, just prior to his death in late 2006. From that time to early 2009, the development languished in bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings with the banks that held a nearly 35 million dollar mortgage on the remaining property held by Nedegaard. On March 17, 2009 the Ramsey City Council authorized a settlement agreement between the City and the lead bank in the mortgage, MinnWest Bank, ending litigation over the enforcement on the city's development agreement. As a result of the settlement agreement, on June 26, 2009, the City closed on the acquisition of 148.5 acres of undeveloped property for $6.75 million. The banks in-turn paid $1.35 million in back taxes, interest and penalties to the city, county and school district. In early July 2009, the City embarked on a process to refine the vision and land use for the project to ensure that the project is in line with the current market for commercial, office and residential development. As a result of that process, increased flexibility has been incorporated into the land use plan, particularly on the west end of the project (area of approx. 70 acres), opening the door to larger format retail to bring energy to the project. In addition, flexibility has been added to the density of the project to allow additional development over time in response to influence of transit, commercial development, and returned economic growth. Over the next six months, the city will be reviewing its zoning and development guidelines to ensure alignment with land use refinements. Site Conditions: At this time the entire site is served by municipal water and sewer. However, the western portion of the site requires additional work to make it pad-ready for development. There are a number of sites throughout the development that are currently pad-ready and available for sale. Current Zoning and Future Land Use: As mentioned above, the City is in the process of updating the Land Use and Vision for the Town Center (Exhibit B). The City is committed to fostering quality development of this site and to ensuring flexibility as to the future use of these parcels, particularly on the west 70 acres of the site. Updates to the zoning code and design guidelines will be completed over the next six months to further encourage flexibility in the zoning districts. 2 agm/RTC