Agenda - Council - 04/28/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Anoka County HRA Funding Request City of Ramsey: Former Municipal Center Site SUBJECT PROPERTY, BACKGROUND The Subject Property is located at 15153 Nowthen Boulevard, just south of Alpine Drive. Totaling 20.5 acres, the Subject Property encompasses two separate, contiguous, parcels (Reference Map). The Subject Property is owned by the City of Ramsey is home to the City's former municipal center campus. Two multi -story 10,000+ square foot buildings remain on the property today. In June 2012, the Ramsey City Council identified the Subject Property as surplus City owned land; as it is no longer needed for current or future City functions. Returning tax-exempt, surplus, City -owned property back to the private sector for development benefits local taxing jurisdictions by increasing tax capacity base within the region. Increased tax capacity base results in less tax burden for individual tax payers. Today, the Subject Property is utilized as the temporary home of Ramsey Fire Station #2. The City awarded a contract for the construct of a new Fire Station #2, just northeast of the Subject Property, on April 14, 2015 (Council Case). This project will be completed by March 2016. REDEVELOPMENT, BACKGROUND Until recently, the Subject Property was zoned Public/ Quasi -Public. Previously, the site was visioned for a municipal center campus or elementary school campus. In 2006, the City moved all police and administrative services from the Subject Property to a permanent location within The COR—the City's new downtown development. The Anoka -Hennepin School District has indicated they are not interested in the site now, or in the foreseeable future. From 2013 to 2014 the City underwent an in-depth public engagement process to help guide the future use of the Subject Property (Findings Report). The outcome of that process was direction to redevelop the site into a single-family residential neighborhood (R1 -M USA Zoning). In July of 2014, the City listed the Subject Property for sale (Listing). In January 2015, the City entered into a purchase agreement for the sale of the Subject Property to a developer that intends to construct 45 market -rate single family residential homes (Council Case). The purchase agreement is scheduled to close in two phases. The first phase, about 15 acres of vacant land, in the summer of 2015. The second phase, about 6.5 acres of heavily improved land, in the summer of 2016. Redevelopment of the Subject Property for a single-family residential development has several advantages: the site is located near Ramsey Elementary School, all major utilities are located adjacent to the site today, surrounding land uses include a mix of single-family residential, based on the input from an in-depth public input process—it was determined single-family residential development was the most acceptable future use for the Subject Property, and redevelopment of this infill site promotes efficient use of existing nearby infrastructure. COUNTY HRA FUNDING REQUEST Development of the Subject Property will result several costs associated with "redevelopment" of the former municipal center campus including: demolition of existing buildings/ improvements, site cleanup, and relocation of various underground utilities. From a preliminary perspective, this work is forecasted below. These numbers are estimations today. The City will attain bids for this work by November 2015. The City would request for this project to be funded, based on actual bid results, in March 2016. Actual redevelopment work would be completed in April of 2016. Demolition and Site Clean Up $250,000 Relocation of various Utilities $175,000 Contingency $100,000 Total Request $525,000 The City has spent (will spend) over $60,000 on pre -demolition testing, hazardous materials testing, geotechnical soils evaluations, ALTA surveys, environmental testing, title commitments, shovel ready certifications, broker commissions (future sale), and administrative time during the in-depth public engagement process. The City anticipates spending a total of $3.3M to design and construct the new Fire Station #2.