Finance & Commerce
The first phase of residential construction will include 250 apartments, 250 senior housing units, and 150 single-family homes ranging in price from the mid-$300,000s to $1 million. (Submitted image)
Nearly two years after Ramsey County tapped Alatus LLC as the master developer of a former ammunitions plant site in Arden Hills, the developer and county officials said Wednesday they are close to finalizing the framework of a development agreement.
Also on Wednesday, Minneapolis-based Alatus released new images that show a cluster of residential and commercial buildings surrounded by green spaces, houses, wetlands, and a network of roadways and trails.
Alatus representatives and officials touted the announcement as a big step in their plans to remake the 427-acre site, now known as Rice Creek Commons. New uses include 1,460 housing units, commercial space, a town center, green space and trails. The former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site is in the northeast quadrant of Interstate 35W and Highway 96.
County Commissioner Rafael Ortega called the announcement “a big milestone” in a separate interview with Finance & Commerce. “We have the essence of an agreement and it’s just a matter of putting it all together,” he said.
The Joint Development Authority overseeing Rice Creek Commons is scheduled to review the proposed development framework in early April. The agreement is subject to approval from the authority, the Ramsey County Board, and the Arden Hills City Council.
Development will play out in five phases, beginning with infrastructure work that could begin late this year or early next year. A “town center” area with some retail and commercial space, including a potential movie theater, will anchor the first phase.
Alatus President Bob Lux said in a conference call Wednesday with the news media that the first phase of residential construction will include 250 apartments, 250 senior housing units, and 150 single-family homes ranging in price from the mid-$300,000s to $1 million, he said.
Planned commercial uses include retail, offices, hotels, entertainment and a corporate campus. The residential component will offer apartments, condos, single-family dwellings and senior housing.
Grading, utility installation and other site preparation will be put up for construction bids this fall. Housing and commercial construction will begin in 2020.
The county selected Alatus as the master developer in May 2016.
Louis Jambois, primary negotiator for Rice Creek Commons, said in the conference call that the most challenging part of the project has been its size, as well as the history of how the property has been used and other complicating factors.
“The hardest part was wrapping our heads around everything that needed to happen to the property. … It is hard, arduous work,” said Jambois, the former head of the St. Paul Port Authority.
Ortega said it has taken this long to get to this point, in part, because the U.S. Army needed to wrap up an “optimization study” that clarifies where and how ongoing groundwater treatment will occur at the site.
“All those things took time, but we are back on track now and moving it forward,” Ortega said in the interview.
The county, Alatus and the city have invested $73 million in roadways, utilities, green space and other infrastructure to prepare the site for development. The development team says that money will be “fully recouped through land sale revenue and other fees or charges.”
Once it’s redeveloped, the property is expected to generate $4.4 million per year in taxes, with more than half of that going to the county and the rest to the city and the Mounds View school district, Ortega said.
Rice Creek Commons is part of a site once used for production of small arms ammunition. The federal government acquired the property in 1941. Ammunition operations continued until 1976. The land had PCB-contaminated soil, lead, chlorinated solvents and other contaminants. It was once considered the largest Superfund site in Minnesota.
Ramsey County spent $30 million in 2013 to acquire and clean up the property. That investment included the land purchase, demolition and remediation of the site to residential standards.
The city of Arden Hills said Wednesday that it can’t comment on the draft framework for now because it hasn’t received a copy of the document.
“We are eager to take the next step in this project that will reshape the city of Arden Hills and bring significant investment to our community,” the city said in a statement. “Rice Creek Commons presents a tremendous opportunity for us, and we look forward to working with our partners at the County and Alatus on these next steps.”
Alatus is teaming with Wayzata-based Inland Development Partners for commercial development and Lakeville-based Tradition Development Corp.’s Todd Stutz for single-family development.
Related: