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

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Page 3 of 3 Ordway Properties partnering on the 320,000 square feet of retail development, the project's 700 housing units, included condominiums (Hunt Associates & Pratt Ordway Properties), town homes (Pratt Homes) and apartments for general occupancy and senior rental (Dominium Development and Acquisition). But before bringing in the new, it was time to say farewell to the old. Understanding the emotional attachment to the Apache Plaza, the City of St. Anthony and the local chamber of commerce persuaded Pratt and Doran to hold an appropriate "memorial service" dubbed Apache Plaza's Ultimate Evening -The Bulldozer Bash. On March 20, 2005, just ahead of the bulldozers, over 4,000 people showed up to pay their respects to the old mall. For Len Pratt and Kelly Doran the event was a motivating moment that they carried with them through the fall of 2005 when a new gathering place came to life in St. Anthony. "The goal for those of us who create these spaces is to develop a positive collective subconscious among its users," says Pratt. Today, a walk through the new Silver Lake Village gives pedestrians a warm feeling of attachment. The narrow streets, with angle parking up to wide sidewalks, allow for steady, but slow movement by a mix of health care services, locally owned restaurants such as Cabina Italian Kitchen and national brands such as Pei Wei and Chipotle, and a variety of financial and personal service storefronts. Residents of the Village and Senior Condominiums, the Landings Apartments and the Cottage Town Homes are nestled just down Main Street and adjacent to Salo Park's amphitheatre and community gathering place. Two strategically placed ponds add a natural setting to the flower gardens that grace both the residential and commercial areas. A Collective Subconscious "Len's a very creative guy," comments Doran. "As he says it, he likes to `rub up against it' to get a sense of what people want in a gathering place. As a result, his instincts are good, and he's not afraid to act on them." Doran says that to achieve a new urbanism concept of suburban infill -- contain a diverse range of housing and jobs, and be walkable, comfortable and welcoming -- you need that creativity. "You can't be restricted by the image of a romantic European village that evolved over hundreds of years. A European village concept with vertical mixed-use isn't going to work in most suburban communities and Len understood that." Indeed, for the City of St. Anthony, there is now great satisfaction in creating a real neighborhood with a component that, in the beginning, some thought would be a problem in the community's collective subconscious. Happily, in the end, it became part of the solution. By Tom Moran, business development director, Doran Construction. http://www.naiop.org/developmentmag/specialsections/200801 c.cfm 4/4/2008