5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appendix E: Relevant News Articles (cont.) Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires Finance & Commerce (Minneapolis, MN) February 23, 2006 Thursday SECTION: NEWS LENGTH: 864 words HEADLINE: Big Lake, city of 9,000 between Minneapolis and St. Cloud, continues to grow at fast pace BYLINE: Burl Gilyard BODY Big Lake keeps getting bigger. The Sherburne County city of 9,000 between Minneapolis and St. Cloud has been booming and is expected to continue growing at a fast pace in the foreseeable future."By 2020, we'll be around 20,000 people," said Jim Thares, community economic development director for the city of Big Lake. Thares said that from 1998 to 2005, the city averaged 210 new units of housing a year. The planned Northstar Line commuter-rail service will also solidify Big Lake's connection to the metro area. "The train ends or starts, depending on your perspective, right here in Big Lake," Thares said. "It's also going to be the site of the train maintenance facility." An old real estate adage holds that "commercial development follows rooftops." So it goes in Big Lake. Last year, work was completed on the Big Lake Industrial Park East, a 68-acre project with approximately 380,000 square feet of leaseable space. And the wheels are starting to turn for a large mixed-use project straddling U.S. Highway 10, dubbed Big Lake Marketplace. Big Lake-based Dynamics Land & Design Co. LLC is the master developer for the project, which calls for 110 acres of commercial development, 90 acres of industrial projects and more than 350 new homes. There's also talk of a 60- to 68-room hotel, and early conceptual plans even call for a small ballpark within Big Lake Marketplace. "This is sizable. This would be the largest commercial and industrial project that we've done as a company," said Marly Glines, owner and chief manager for Dynamics Design & Land. "We're adding rooftops adjacent to all of this commercial, and the city of Big Lake is growing in all areas." The process has been protracted. Dynamics began working on the project back in 2002. Dynamics bought more than 430 acres from six different property owners. The land, which had been part of Big Lake Township, was annexed by the city of Big Lake. "This project is roughly 3 miles from Elk River," Glines said. Dynamics has carved up the site into commercial parcels for sale on the north and south side of Highway 10. "In the area, most of the property back then was anywhere from $25,000 to $30,000 per acre. Today it's creeped up to be more like $40,000 to $50,000 [an acre] for raw land," Glines said. "I would say that we've put in a substantial amount of infrastructure on both sides of Highway 10."