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05-31-16 CC WS MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, MAY 31, 2016 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:30 P.M. Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Sundberg and Woodruff; Administrator Joynes; Finance Director DeJong; and, Planning Director Nielsen Absent: Councilmembers Labadie and Siakel B. Review Agenda Woodruff moved, Sundberg seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 310. 2. REAL ESTATE ISSUES Administrator Joynes stated Mr. John Benjamin has been working with staff for a number of months on a proposal for the Badger Park area. Mr. Benjamin asked for an opportunity to come before Council in a work session to discuss a high level concept. Mr. Benjamin was present this evening to do that along with a few of his colleagues. Mr. Benjamin stated he and his colleagues were present to present a vision for the area to Council.It is a vision they have been working on for many months. He thanked Mayor Zerby, Administrator Joynes and Director Nielsen for the assistance they have given them and for providing information when requested. He explained that he is involved with a corporation based in the City of Minneapolis. That precipitated his involvement in this area. When involved with that corporation he met Bonnie Witrak whose father had owned the Minnetonka Country Club (MCC) property for many years. Ms. Witrak is interested in trying to bring some of the family's dream to fruition by infusing a transformation into Shorewood. He introduced the members of their immediate team. They include Mr. Benjamin, Ms. Witrak, Mr. Brad Scheib (a planner), Katie Myhre (designer and project manager with Snow Kreilich Architects — one of two architectural firms), Ms. Kathy Erman (his right hand and co- project director in terms of bringing this vision through; she has lived in the area for close to 30 years), and Jack Christen (an attorney out of an office located in the City of Edina). He displayed an enlarged copy of a photograph taken of the MCC about two weeks ago by one of their prospective tenants. It shows how drastic the transformation of the MCC property has been. He explained they are present to talk about a transformation in Shorewood. They have control of the commercial properties fronting Smithtown Road on the southeast corner of the Smithtown Road and County Road 19 intersection from the gas station on the west up to and including the car wash on the CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES May 31, 2016 Page 2 of 5 east. They also control the residential property located across from the public safety facility in Shorewood north to the Public Works facility. It is the team's dream and desire to convert the commercial properties and the City Hall campus into a major center which would become the hub of Shorewood. The team understands there are a number of issues associated with doing that. One of them is the approved plan to replace the ball field in Badger Park with an artificial playfield which be used for lacrosse and football. Their proposal would relocate Badger Park onto part of the MCC property currently owned by Mattamy Homes. The new artificial playfield would be a full -size lacrosse field. He has met with the President of the Minnetonka Lacrosse Association about their proposal a couple of times. The team proposes to relocate City Hall and the Southshore Center to the residential property across from the public safety facility and south of the Public Works facility. For the current City Hall campus and the commercial area next door they propose to build an amazing retail facility which would put Shorewood at the center of the food retailing chain in this region. Their intention would be for the center to be a food type center and not a general shopping mall. It would be dedicated to 90 plus percent food. They hope to entice one of the major food chains to move into the center. They have a desire to have a fish, meat and deli vendor in there. The facility would have a basement car park that would be heated during the winter. The waste water that is generated from tenants would go down through a heat exchanger and heat the basement. Those coming to the center would be able to use a lift or escalator from the basement to access the retail area. Their goal is to transform that area of Shorewood into a new type of city. It would make Shorewood stand out from the Cities of Excelsior and Wayzata. If nothing is done Shorewood would continue to be a city of no destination. Ms. Witrak hopes that with the various partners there is an opportunity to create facilities that actually mean something to the community. The facilities would not be age specific; they would not be retirement centers. He commented that he has lived in an apartment for 12 — 14 years. He does not want to go back to living in a single - family home and he does not want to live downtown. He stated in 15 — 20 years the method of transportation will have changed significantly. People don't want to spend an hour each way traveling by automobile to and from work. He wants to live where he has access to other facilities and where there are parks to walk to. He noted they are proposing to help create a vision that would help Shorewood succeed. He thought he and his team are the first people who have a proposal for how to bring something together in the Smithtown Crossing Redevelopment Area. He stated he, along with Ms. Whitrak, has assembled an incredible team which includes analytical people, international architects, international engineers, and traffic engineers that will evaluate all of the issues Shorewood faces. The team believes all of the issues can be resolved; issues such as building height, setbacks and so forth. They think them can help the City improve the beauty of the area. Mr. Benjamin stated that he believes the vision they are proposing can happen. He noted that Mattamy would be willing to sell them the property on the western edge of the MCC property for Badger Park. They could build the artificial turn field as currently proposed or they could increase the size to a full - size lacrosse field. Mr. Scheib stated Mr. Benjamin has a big vision. When Mr. Benjamin first approached his firm with his vision they were somewhat hesitant about wanting to participate. But, after listening to the passion Mr. Benjamin had for the vision and after doing their due diligence with the team he had already assembled CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES May 31, 2016 Page 3 of 5 and the work Mr. Benjamin had done they decided the vision has a lot of merit. He noted they reviewed the Smithtown Crossing Redevelopment Area Study and he thought a lot of what Mr. Benjamin has proposed would help bring some components of that study to fruition. He stated people understand there are alternatives and clarified they have only considered what is being proposed at a high level. He clarified the playfield can be a multi - purpose field. Maybe the playfield can be moved to the MCC site while the other elements of the park remain near the center being proposed. The team understands there would need to be amendments to the City's Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code in order to make the vision work. Ms. Erman explained she started working with Mr. Benjamin about 4 — 5 months ago. Her role is to help Mr. Benjamin and his team shape the vision from two perspectives. One is from being involved with the Medtronic Campus project in the City of Fridley and with the Guthrie project in Minneapolis. Both projects started with a grand vision. The other is local development perspective; she raised her children 3.5 miles up the road from City Hall. She has been a resident in the Lake Minnetonka area for 20 — 30 years. There are a cluster of communities around the Lake; all with their own personalities. The City of Wayzata had a canvas that was already filled; it was reshaped and refined. In the City of Spring Park there was the redevelopment of the area where and near the former Minnetonka Mist was located. There has been a lot of development in the City of Mound, although Mound's location is not pivotal as Shorewood's is. The City of Excelsior has a very given infrastructure and defined space and development, yet there has been a lot of redevelopment there. Shorewood has a canvas to work with. Mr. Benjamin has presented an initial vision that would be wonderful for part of the Smithtown Crossing Redevelopment Area. He spent a tremendous amount of time on the vision. Ms. Erman stated that this evening they are looking for a plan of partnership to move forward together. They would like to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) giving a timeframe whereby the team and staff would be able to work through and explore the process together. From her perspective that is when the magic starts to happen. The best projects happen when there is collaboration with someone who has a vision that stretches people's imaginations and others who have a perspective of what will work. Ms. Myhre noted she grew up in the area. She stated the team believes Shorewood is ripe with potential. She thought the vision Mr. Benjamin and the team arrived at is very strong. People are in the very early stages of putting a form to the vision. She also thought the project has to be done as a partnership with the City. She explained the Smithtown retail center would provide a lot of opportunity for growth and development that may be what people have a desire for in this community. Their intent is to find out what various age groups and families in the area want. They view the relocation of City Hall and the Southshore Center as a union of bringing the two purposes together and sharing the spaces. Mr. Benjamin commented they have been speaking assiduously with two major general contractors. He stated the team estimates that the overall increase in the tax base of the final product over the next 3 — 5 years would be in the range of $400 million — $600 million. That increase could go a long way toward ensuring the future of Shorewood as the mainstay of the immediate region over many decades to come. Mr. Benjamin thanked Council for its time. He offered for the team to entertain questions. Councilmember Sundberg asked Mr. Benjamin if he has had any discussions with Mattamy representatives; if so, does Mattamy have any interest. Mr. Benjamin noted his last discussion with Mattamy representatives was on May 25 or 26. They are quite prepared to negotiate with the team about what has been discussed. He does not think there would be any issue. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES May 31, 2016 Page 4 of 5 Councilmember Woodruff asked how the project would be financed from a high level perspective. Mr. Benjamin explained it would be a staged project and each stage of it has been estimated to cost $40 million — $50 million. With the syndicate and investors they would be able to cope with that. It would be financed internally and with bank funding. Woodruff then asked if they would need public funds or grants. Mr. Benjamin responded they are not looking for public funding. He noted there would be discussions about tax increment financing (TIF) but he was not sure what that means. Mr. Benjamin stated the intersection near the public safety facility would become a trafficated intersection per their traffic engineers. That means fire and police could get out anytime. That building eventually would leak through to another intersection and that would eliminate the need for some other intersections or access points. Benefits like that would be achieved from the project. Councilmember Sundberg stated she thought the Smithtown Crossing Redevelopment Area needs some attention. She then stated her first reaction to the vision is she is not sure that the structures being envisioned would be a cultural fit with the community. She is not sure it would be received well by Shorewood residents. Mr. Benjamin stated the structures may not. The intent would be to work with Council and staff over the next twelve months under a MOU or development agreement to meld various ideas together and come up with one that pleases most people. Mr. Benjamin stated he does not think there would be any point in spending $700,000 on an artificial turf field in Badger Park when his team can offer a full -size multi- purpose artificial turf playfield on the MCC property. He then stated he does not foresee the greater metropolitan area building out another 100 kilometers over the next 25 to 30 or 40 years. There is an opportunity for Shorewood to consider the vision as a starting point and then refine it with his team along the way. He went on to state when he had originally told Mayor Zerby he would like to build a 12 story building, Zerby told him to go away. He came back and told Zerby that from an economic perspective they cannot build just three story buildings. Maybe they could come down to six stories or maybe five or maybe seven or a mixture of all. If there is a starting point for discussions then the economics will then guide discussions. He explained there are issues with water down at the bottom of Badger Park and in other spots in the area that greatly effect what can be done. The good thing is there is a 12 -foot fall from the corner of the site to where people are now. That means a basement car park can be constructed without digging the ground out. That would be close to a $21 million benefit. The cellular tower would have to remain in place until the structure was constructed and then it would go on top of the new structure. Many issues like those have been taken into account by his team. The end result would bring the benefit of having fresh food available every day. Mayor Zerby stated he had met with Mr. Benjamin a number of times. He has been impressed with his vision which is very large. There are a lot of moving pieces with that vision. He thought Mr. Benjamin has assembled a team of experts and come up with some good illustrations. It was time Mr. Benjamin shared them with Council and it is time for Council to share their reactions. He noted that he and Council have to rely on staff to let Council know what the opportunities are and where things should go from here. Mr. Benjamin asked that Council respond by way of working with his team on a development type agreement for the next 12 months to consolidate what they are thinking and to adjust their vision with what the rest of the community wants. Mr. Benjamin again thanked Council for its time. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES May 31, 2016 Page 5 of 5 Mayor Zerby thanked Mr. Benjamin and his team for sharing the vision with Council. He noted the process is a journey and not a destination. He also noted the City would be in touch with Mr. Benjamin. 3. ADJOURN Woodruff moved, Sundberg seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of May 31, 2016, at 7:02 P.M. Motion passed 310. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder -- - Sco erby, ayor ATTEST: Je n Panchyshynler-