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<br />SUMMARY OF RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES <br />EDA STRATEGIC PLAN 18 <br />The retail market has undergone a shock due to the Coronavirus pandemic. And its <br />effects have differed greatly between business types. A full recovery will take at least a <br />couple of years. In the meantime the pandemic will have shaped consumer preferences <br />and habits in ways that will be longlasting. One significant change may be a further shift <br />away from store-based retail to various retail delivery models. That may slow future <br />new retail development in Elk River for a time. <br />Residential Market Context <br />Residential development has not been sidelined by the pandemic in the same way as <br />the retail sector has. Owner occupied single family homes and townhomes will continue <br />to be in demand, bolstered by the quality of life investments that the City has been <br />making. Based on the 2015 Housing Needs Assessment, and our experience in <br />similarly situated cities, there will be an ongoing demand for a range of multifamily <br />housing products in Elk River. Developers of market rate apartments will be selective <br />about location, seeking areas with a strong set of locational amenities. Locations of <br />interest may include sites near downtown Elk River, or near the Mississippi River or <br />other waterfronts. Such locations will often require redevelopment of already developed <br />properties. For that reason, and because of the high cost of new construction, City <br />financial support will generally be required to make new multifamily development <br />projects financially viable. <br />Industrial Market Context <br />Elk River has a lot to offer industrial businesses. It has excellent access to <br />transportation arteries to the north, south, east and west; an existing concentration of <br />manufacturing businesses; a high quality utility infrastructure including reliable municipal <br />energy; and access to a high quality workforce. For businesses and distributors that <br />primarily serve the Twin Cities Metro, however, there are numerous competing locations <br />that are closer to their customer base. With clear marketing, and improvements to the <br />availability of development sites, new industrial development should continue to occur at <br />a measured pace. <br />Other Research <br />In additional to the investigations and findings detailed above, the Stantec team <br />broadened its understanding of the Elk River economic context, its needs and its <br />opportunities through a number of other avenues. <br />Elk River EDA. The EDA offered its perspectives and insights during an introduction <br />meeting and at the first EDA Workshop. <br />Focus Groups. Three focus groups were convened that focused on Manufacturing and <br />Industry, Downtown Elk River, and Manufacturing and Industry. <br />Peer city benchmarking. We identified Forest Lake, Oakdale and Chaska as peer <br />cities. For each city we conducted one to two very informative interviews that were two