INFORMATION #1 EDSR 04-14-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 of 3 . Be a neighborhood of a scale, that added a significant tax base, but structurally wouldn't overwhelm a quiet bungalow sprinkled community; . Include a main street with sidewalks, trees and green space; . Create a safe environment for families and seniors to walk; . Build quality, but affordable housing that would encourage empty nesters to move from the city's single family homes and free up housing for younger families to move in; and . Last but not least - no Wal-Mart. That's when Len Pratt called Kelly Doran. "I had observed what Kelly was doing in other communities around the Twin Cities, Pratt said. "His retail developments, even those that included a Wal-Mart or Target, had a warm feel to them. Kelly believed in lots of mature trees, perennial flower gardens, distinctive architecture and the use of exterior sculpture art -- that is an attraction in itself." Doran, who currently has his own development and construction company (Doran Companies), but at the time was president of the Twin City-based Robert Muir Company, recalls his first meeting with Len Pratt: "I looked at the plan and told Len I wasn't interested because it wouldn't work. I told him they needed a big box." Pratt listened to Doran's analysis and eventually convinced him to present his ideas to the city council. The big box was in and so was Kelly Doran. "These main street things can work, but they have to have an anchor component," Doran told the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) newspaper after the March 2003, meeting with St. Anthony officials. "It's going to create the energy that makes the rest of it successful..." Today, Doran says that St. Anthony made the right decision. It wasn't without some consternation and several community meetings, but in the end, the community was supportive and the plan was revised. Within a few months Doran had a commitment from Wal-Mart to join the development. Key to the deal was Doran's insistence that Wal-Mart agree to adjust their normal architectural design to accommodate a "softer more inviting neighborhood feel and look" and to contribute $1 million toward the development of the site. If It Isn't One Thing-It's Another With a key component to viability now in place, another arose. In an earlier, but futile attempt by the City of St. Anthony to redevelop Apache Plaza, the developer and the city parted company but not before he managed to purchase a Cub Foods store built on the 60- acre site in 1996. In the process, the developer had obtained several easements and concessions that in Doran's estimation made the current re-development impossible. This hurdle was especially concerning because it had the potential to add significant cost and delay. But Pratt and Doran stayed focused. "In today's fiscal environment there is likely to be less government financial involvement in projects so we have to figure out how to make them work on our own-and that's not a bad thing," Doran said. (Silver Lake Village had a $5 million tax increment subsidy but the $140 million financed by private funds.) project was mostly After some months of haggling and the Cub Foods store finally purchased, the remaining obstacles, while formidable, seemed much less daunting. It was now late in 2003 and still to be accomplished was the purchase of 12 additional private properties located on the site, some remaining tenants to be relocated, significant site contamination and an extremely challenging problem of how to handle storm water drainage and retention ponds. Out With the Old and In With the New In the meantime, Len Pratt was busy adding to his team. With Robert Muir Company and Pratt http://www.naiop.org/developmentmag/specialsections/200801 c.cfm 4/4/2008 Condominiums and rental units line the courtyard and walkways extending from Salo Park at Silver Lake Village.