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Home My WebLink AboutItem 3b Combined TimberlandSketch Plan Narrative - Sundance Lakeville Timberland Partners (“Timberland”), based in Bloomington, Minnesota, is proposing to construct an approximately 200-unit market rate rental project (“Sundance”), composed of 188 townhome-style units and 12 single family rental homes on 18.73 acres (Parcel #220011037020) located at the Northwest quadrant of 162nd St W and I-35. According to the 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the northwesterly corner of the parcel is guided a combination of Low/Medium Density Residential and Medium Density Residential. The remainder of the parcel is guided Commercial. Timberland is proposing to build the 12 single family homes within an area guided for Low/Medium and Medium Density Residential which is consistent with current zoning. We are proposing the remainder of the site be rezoned from Commercial to High Density Residential to accommodate the 188 townhome- style units. Why Rezone? Not Suitable for Commercial/Retail Use Timberland is currently under contract to purchase the property from an entity related to Jerry’s Foods. Jerry’s Foods originally bought the property in 1998, with the intent to construct a Cub Foods. However, Cub Foods instead chose a different nearby location on which to open a store. At that time, the property was put up for sale, and for 22 years has been marketed unsuccessfully for a variety of reasons. These reasons are outlined in the attached email correspondence from John Johannson and Janet Olson, both with Transwestern, who have been actively marketing the property for the past several years. (See Attached Email Correspondence) Less Impact to Adjacent Neighborhoods The adjacent neighborhoods to both the west and north of the site are primarily owner-occupied single- family residential. The residential use proposed by Timberland will serve as a much better transitional use than retail or commercial. Retail and commercial uses can bring congestion and truck delivery traffic – often at night or early in the morning – to avoid peak business hours. Sundance, with its variety of single-family and townhome-style units provides a neighborhood feel allowing it to assimilate well into the surrounding community. Willingness to Work with Neighbors A recent survey performed by Alliant Engineering identified encroachments by eight property owners along the northern boundary of the site. In some cases, this involves fire pits, wood piles and landscaping. However, in at least three cases there are physical structures (fences and sheds) encroaching on to the Timberland property, in some cases extending up to 15 feet south of the north property line. Timberland will commit to working with the encroaching property owners to reach solutions that will allow for as little disruption to current conditions as possible. Because of the nature of the proposed use, there is some design flexibility within the site plan. This allows us some creativity and ability to design around some of the encroachments. A retail or commercial user would likely have less flexibility and/or desire to work with these neighbors perhaps leading to a contentious approval process. Transit-Orientated While the property does not technically fit within a transit development target area, it is only approximately 570 feet outside the boundary of the Kenrich Avenue Park & Ride transit area as identified by the 2040 comprehensive plan. With developable land scarce to non-existent within the Kenrich Avenue target area, this presents an opportunity to provide medium-density rental housing near transit. Property Tax Revenue Currently the property generates $95,538 in property tax revenue. Using conservative estimates, the stabilized property taxes generated from our project would be at least $550,000+/-. This would generate at least $450,000 in additional revenue per year on a property which has sat vacant and unsaleable as a retail or commercial property for over twenty years. In Conclusion We hope city leaders can see the benefit of rezoning the property to accommodate Timberland’s proposed use. It will add to the local tax base in a manner that is least impactful to the surrounding neighborhoods. Timberland develops apartments with the intent to own them long-term. We also manage everything we own, as nobody cares more about our properties than we do. We look forward to the opportunity of becoming part of the Lakeville community. 1/4/2021 Timberland Partners Mail - Fwd: Sundance Lakeville - City comments, and background https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=67b5ae9593&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1685075536295636847%7Cmsg-a%3Ar-679308793576…1/2 Ryan Sailer <rsailer@timberlandpartners.com> Fwd: Sundance Lakeville - City comments, and background 1 message Ryan Sailer <rsailer@timberlandpartners.com>Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 3:24 PM To: Ryan Sailer <rsailer@timberlandpartners.com> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: John Johannson <John.Johannson@transwestern.com> Date: Thu, Dec 3, 2020 at 10:34 AM Subject: RE: Sundance Lakeville - City comments, and background To: Ryan Sailer <rsailer@timberlandpartners.com> Cc: Bjorn Strommen <bstrommen@timberlandpartners.com>, Janet Olson <Janet.Olson@transwestern.com>, Ben Schultes - Jerry's Enterprises, Inc. (bschultes@jerrysfoods.com) <bschultes@jerrysfoods.com>, John Johannson <John.Johannson@transwestern.com> Ryan, Thank you for your continued efforts on this site. Your site plan looks great – and it is absolutely the most likely and appropriate use for the property. As for marketing the parcel for commercial use – we have had a frustrating 22 years. We purchased this site in 1998. We had planned for a retail center anchored by Cub Foods. The advancement of retail properties along Hwy 50 – very proximate to this site (to the south) made the subject property less attractive. Retail users that want and need synergy with other users were attracted to either Hwy 50 to the south, or along County Rd 42 to the north. We had some large, single site users interested. We could have perhaps completed a deal with Costco, but the City of Lakeville operates municipal liquor stores – and thus Costco could not operate their full operation – so they eventually located in Burnsville along County Rd 42. The site also has a fair bit of topography – which proves difficult for retail. At more than 2% grade, shopping carts move on their own – and it results in a center with lots of large and expensive retaining walls in order to achieve appropriate grades. The lack of access directly to County Rd 46 is also a challenge. Given our higher volumes of traffic, we were told that we could not have access along County Road 46. The first access point was to be along the frontage road/Buck Hill Road. However, the access point is located on a curve in the road – which proves difficult for internal stacking related to high volume retail traffic. We had more than one prospect suggest the access is just not good to this site. With residential uses generating substantially lower traffic, you may well get access off of County Rd. 46 – and if not, residential users always find their way thru more remote access points. I think, sometimes it is even more desired to instill a sense of privacy for a residential use. We also had a commercial, non-retail user that was interested some time ago – and they contacted the City – and they came away with a sense that their project would likely not get approved. It was Abdallah Chocolates/Candies. They would have built their processing facility, as well as a small retail area that serves the public as a factory store. They were located in Burnsville at the time and interested in our site as a second facility that would serve as the headquarters. They were discouraged, and ended up going to Apple Valley – where incidentally, after they began looking, they also received some form of public assistance or tax increment financing. 1/4/2021 Timberland Partners Mail - Fwd: Sundance Lakeville - City comments, and background https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=67b5ae9593&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1685075536295636847%7Cmsg-a%3Ar-679308793576…2/2 The northern border of this parcel is the city line between Burnsville and Apple Valley. It is primarily single family homes on the Burnsville side. It was made painfully aware to us that the residents on the Burnsville side would be objecting to commercial activity - which could have included loading vehicles, semi-trucks, etc. Your proposed project brings none of those concerns. After 22 years of marketing this site, and paying property taxes, we would be hopeful that the City would recognize the best use for this parcel is along the lines of your proposed project. Janet and Ben, please add any comments to aid Ryan in his discussions with the City. Thanks JJJ John Johannson Managing Director of Retail Services john.johannson@transwestern.com TRANSWESTERN 706 Second Ave. South Suite 100 Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 Direct: 612.359.1680 Cell phone: 612.817.2302 transwestern.com (Corporate office above) (Current interim office location below) TRANSWESTERN 860 Blue Gentian Road Suite 295 Eagan, Minnesota 55121 Direct: 612.359.1680 201028-Sundance at Lakeville-City Package-1.pdf 11322K