05-25-2018 EDA MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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410 City of Elk ,. Special Meeting of the Elk River River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Friday, May 25, 2018 Members Present: President Tveite, Commissioners Provo, Olsen,Westgaard, Ovall, Wagner, and Blesener Members Absent: None Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt and Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy Others Present: Ron Touchette, Rock Solid Companies;Ryan Hardin, Hardin Companies I. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof,the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by President Tveite. III 2. Work Session 2.1 Current Market Conditions Ms. Othoudt introduced Ron Touchette with Rock Solid Companies and Ryan Hardin with Hardin Companies. Mr.Touchette discussed the current market conditions and stated the Elk River community has its own unique commercial identity. He currently has seven leases and three available sites in Elk River. He stated that he sees challenges in Elk River as there is no clear direction in Elk River and a lot of decisions are inconsistent. Ryan Hardin reviewed some of his listings in Elk River. Retail strip malls may be challenging to fill in the future, as they are becoming functionally obsolete with more and more online shopping/ecommerce. Industrial land sales are going for less than $2.00 sq. ft. in the area. The city should consider adjusting the sale price of the industrial property they own. Mr. Hardin is concerned with the lack of inventory. He stated that sometimes the city approves incentives that solve a current problems, not necessarily the road ahead. President Tveite asked if the lack of inventory hurts Elk River. Mr. Touchette feels that it does hurt our community as developers are looking for sizeable acreage,which IIIElk River does not currently have.