Building ‘town center’ top priority at TCAAP

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Alatus’ strong emphasis on building a sustainable, mixed-use town center at the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant helped the Minneapolis-based company become the master developer for the 427-acre site.

The developer stood out from two big Minnesota-based players considered for the job because of its plan to focus on the town center and a mix of residential homes early in the process, said David Sand, chair of the five-member TCAAP Joint Development Authority, the board overseeing development at the site.

“I think it’s important to get that town square settled so it’s kind of a magnet for people to come,” Sand said in an interview after the vote.

The joint development authority for the Arden Hills site selected Alatus as the site’s master developer Monday night in a 5-0 vote.

As part of its winning proposal, Alatus plans to partner with Eden Prairie-based EVS Engineering, which specializes in renewable energy projects. The company will help implement a 40-acre solar energy site in the redevelopment area.

The developer also plans to use LEED or similar building standards and focus on sustainable practices to “establish a community sense of responsibility to consider sustainability,” according to Alatus’ solicitation response.

Four original bidders for the site were narrowed to three in April after going through a separate interview process with a 12-member solicitation review committee.

The finalists were Minnetonka-based Opus and Atlanta-based partner Pulte Homes, Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc., and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Lennar Corp. A Kraus-Anderson and Florida-based Elion Partners partnership was dropped early on from the list of contenders by the solicitation review committee.

The Alatus team’s first priority for the town center area, which includes nearly 50 acres of mixed-use retail and housing, will be to attract a grocery store as an anchor tenant and a national fitness chain.

Alatus will also integrate pocket parks, trails and green space as part of the first phase, which is expected to start in late 2017 or 2018.

The master developer along with the county will market the site, which is branded as Rice Creek Commons, though that name could change, Sand said.

“What it will become in the future, who knows?” he said. “We’ll see what Alatus has to say.”

Alatus plans to incorporate the site’s military entrenched history into the branding.

“The project has the ability to dig into the past of the TCAAP site and uncover a history specific to this particular place … one focused on America’s military past,” Alatus’ application notes.

While other teams expressed concern the commercial node would be a “ghost town” if developed too early, the county doesn’t see it that way, Heather Worthington, Ramsey County’s deputy county manager, said after the meeting.

Retail and housing “are symbiotic, and that’s how we see the town square developing over time is that … those houses will support the retail and development of that town center,” she said.

Alatus’ Bob Lux will lead the master development effort and focus on multifamily housing. The company is teaming with Inland Development Partners’ Kent Carlson and Tom Shaver for commercial development and Lakeville-based Tradition Development Corp.’s Todd Stutz for single-family development.

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Isles Ranch Partners, which has a branch in Minneapolis, will serve as the project’s private equity firm.

“We’re looking at this as a gem of an opportunity for the city and the county to really develop something that is not only recognized here locally as phenomenal, but something that really could be on the cover of Urban Land Institute,” Lux said in an interview earlier this year. “With this group of participants, we really believe we can bring that to fruition.”

The buildout on the state’s largest superfund site is expected to take at least a decade, Sand said Monday. Alatus’ master developer application shows the company aims to have the property fully back on the tax rolls by the end of 2025 for the first time since 1941, though that timeline could shift, Lux said.

Alatus’ long-term plan for the site includes creating a corporate campus and attracting a Fortune 500 company to anchor its headquarters at the site. The developer would also continue to add retail, office and flex commercial space over time.

“I think part of it is, as it relates especially to the commercial development, we’re going to be looking for that signature user that’s going to come in and bring the quality employment opportunities,” Inland’s Carlson said in an interview earlier this year.

Sand said Monday he anticipates the site will likely attract companies in the medical technology industry. The northern Ramsey County suburbs are home to several major manufacturers.

The master plan calls for a maximum of 1,431 residential units and thousands of new jobs on site. Of the new units, more than 200 will be single-family homes, Lux said, adding the group would be open to bringing in other builders to help with the project down the road.

The joint development board is made up of two Arden Hills City Council members, two Ramsey County commissioners, and a non-elected appointee who chairs the board.

Of the 633 total acres around the site, 427 acres are part of the current master plan. About 320 acres are set for redevelopment.

Ramsey County in November wrapped up a three-year cleanup on the property in the northeast quadrant of Interstate 35W and Highway 96. The county paid $28.5 million for the former U.S. Army property, which includes the $22.5 million cleanup cost.

Next year, the county will install a main arterial road through the development, along with utilities. That installation is expected to cost about $17 million, but some of that expense could be shared with the developer, Worthington said.

Ramsey County officials will now negotiate a purchase agreement with Alatus while the county and city of Arden Hills will jointly negotiate the development agreement with the master developer. The joint development authority will need to approve the deals, which are expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

Related content:

• TCAAP developer to be named next week
• TCAAP board wrestles with master developer solicitation