5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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In March, LandCor breaks ground on an even larger water park and hotel complex in Blaine, featuring a 50,000-square-foot water park, 165-room hotel, Black Woods restaurant and a 450-person-capacity convention center. Fields said these high-profile projects are just some of LandCor's investments in the northwest suburbs. The company has 23 projects in the area, with nine under construction. Additional in-progress projects range from churches and coffee shops to large retail, warehouse and office complexes, such as the recently completed Bell Tower South, which features 71,000 square feet of office space and 64,240 square feet of warehouse space. Gary Germundsen North Memorial Health Care recently broke ground on a medical office and asurgery/urgent care center just off I-94 and County Road 30 in Maple Grove. This is the first phase of what developers hope will be a 500- to 600-acre campus featuring a 160- to 200-bed hospital and additional medical office space. At press time, however, the fate of the hospital and the remainder of the project was unknown. "Nobody has the right to build a hospital there, yet," said Gary Germundsen, the senior associate at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, the real estate consultants working with North Memorial on the project. (State law requires legislative approval for new hospitals. Although a special session is yet to be called, the Maple Grove hospital did make it onto Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed session "menu.") Germundsen specializes in medical office leasing and said there is a great need for closer-to-home medical service in this area. Although he often develops projects in the north and northwest metro, Germundsen called the North Memorial hospital campus "kind of different." The health care company partnered with Ryan Cos. US Inc., who will position new retail and office development around the hospital campus. Germundsen said this unique hospital-first, then-retail approach allowed the developers to present a "complete package" to the city of Maple Grove, which embraced the concept. He is hoping the Legislature will do the same. Margaret Langfeld Another big northwest project awaiting legislative approval, not to mention state funding, is the proposed $675 million, 68,000-seat, retractable-roof Vikings stadium in Blaine. Commissioner Margaret Langfeld chairs the Anoka County Board of Commissioners, and represents the district where the stadium site is located. Langfeld has been involved with the project for as long as the county has been: three years this December. She has championed the project because, as she put it: "The stadium proposal offers a rare opportunity for Anoka County to bring over $2 billion in private investment to our community." However, with Gophers and Twins proposals also on the table, it appears unlikely the Legislature will embrace the stadium by the end-of-year deadline. Langfeld recognizes, however, that local development does not hinge upon the stadium deal. "The area is growing by leaps and bounds, with or without a stadium.