Consider purchase of Tax Forfeit parcel at North Commons

At a previous meeting of the HRA, direction was given to table discussion of the option to develop up to six single family parcels on the west side of the property known as North Commons.

The original concept considered the development of these parcels to generate revenues that could be contributed to the completion of improvement contemplated for the park, but not considered in current capital improvement plans.  When a preliminary pro-forma was developed it was determined that the cost of providing services and the typical development fees associated with the project left little or no revenue that could be dedicated to the park improvements.

There is a current proposal into Anoka County to acquire this property for both park and development purposes. The development team would like direction on how the HRA would like to proceed with the acquisition of the property.

The options to proceed include:

A)  Do nothing, let the property move through the state process for tax forfeit properties.
B)  Acquire the entire parcel for park purposes at a cost of approximately $300-$500
C)  Acquire the park portion of the property for $300-$500 and the developable portion for $15,000 keeping the option to develop the property open for future consideration.

The development team recommends the HRA acquire the property to ensure it's eventual use fits the surrounding uses, and to provide direction as to whether this acquisition should include the option for future development as previously discussed.

Depends on acquisition approach

Provide consensus direction to proceed with the acquisition of the property based on discussion, and present the final agreements for consideration at a future regular meeting.