Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/01/2016

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There are approximately 186 developable acres remaining for commercial, business park, and residential, plus 45 acres of parks and amenities, as shown in Figure iii. Retail, business park, and commercial total 115 acres; while residential totals 43 acres and mixed-use is 28 acres and could include commercial and residential. The residential component of The COR is planned at 2,200 units. The COR at Ramsey is a significant development opportunity. The Northstar station location in Ramsey is unique among the Northstar Corridor cities. It's located on the edge of the planned downtown area served by a large parking structure, which is flanked by City Hall on the east and an apartment building to the west. To the north is Municipal Plaza, which is surrounded by office, residential, or mixed-use development. This creates the opportunity for both daytime and resident population, which can support ground level retail and commercial commensurate with market demand. Business park uses located to the east will offer employment opportunities to Ramsey residents. Planning for the area northwest of the station area is primarily retail. Building configurations in the retail area are illustrative of a power center, which requires a high volume of customer traffic to support its stores. The retail area should be accessible to pedestrians, but most of the customers, even those living in The COR, are likely to drive to the retail area for shopping to facilitate transporting their purchases home. Residential Development The COR at Ramsey Development Plan provides for a wide variety of housing including single family homes on small lots, townhouses/rowhouses, apartments and/or condominiums, and mixed-use residential buildings. This provides Ramsey with the opportunity to develop housing that appeals to a wide range of markets ranging from singles, young marrieds, move up housing, as well as a variety of senior living options. This ability to tap the full range of housing submarkets will stimulate additional residential development. The COR Development Plan envisions 2,200 housing units in The COR. Previous construction has added 350 housing units and an additional 230 are currently under construction indicating future capacity for over 1,600 units. Market analysis indicates that Ramsey has the potential to add about 7,300 new housing units by 2035. In the near future, Ramsey residential demand is estimated at about 350 units per year. Not all of these units will be located in The COR. Development in other parts of Ramsey is likely to be predominately single family. The COR Development Plan is heavily oriented toward multi-family units, which may inhibit absorption in periods when single family housing demand is high. Stabilized housing demand in The COR is estimated at 70 to 75 percent of Ramsey demand or 245 to 260 units per year. Multi-family units (townhomes, duplexes, and apartments) are estimated to range from 85 to 90 percent annually. This indicates multi-family demand of 210 to 230 units. During the period 2002 through 2007 when housing production was the highest, multi-family units in Ramsey totaled 1,971, of which 170 or 8.6 percent were apartment buildings indicating that about 90 percent of the multi-family units were townhomes. While townhomes have been less popular in recent years, increasing single family home prices are expected to increase townhome popularity in the future. The City of Ramsey should strive to achieve apartment/condominium development at 50 percent of the multi-tenant units in The COR to encourage density near the station. The City of Ramsey has the opportunity to accommodate a wide variety of housing project types consistent with market preferences, particularly in areas in The COR within reasonable walking xi