Inland Group

Inland Group (http://inlandconstruction.com/) is a development company based out of Washington.  One of their subsidiaries is Affinity Living Communities (http://affinityforliving.com/).  Affinity specializes in senior, independent living, market rate, multi-unit, apartment projects.  Inland Group (Affinity) is interested in a 175-unit project in The COR, located on 3-5 acres of city-owned land. 


PROCESS
(1) Site Selection, August/ September
(2) Purchase Agreement, September/ October
(3) Entitlement Process, January--April

The first step in this process is to provide Inland Group with direction on site location.  Then, once direction on site location can be provided to the developer, the EDA can begin the standard purchase agreement process.  Site location will have a significant effect on the purchase agreement process (size of site, infrastructure needs, parks, etc.).


CONCEPT MAPS
The last time the City considered a project in The COR (Stone Brook Children's Academy), it appeared a strong desire existed by elected/ appointed officials to develop and review several professional site concepts upfront, as part of the initial site selection process -- rather than having the developer only pitch their desired site.

Attached to this case are five site concepts.  These concepts were developed by the City of Ramsey (not the developer), based on discussions with the developer.  These concepts are VERY preliminary.  The intent of these concepts is to display how this project could generally fit within The COR, from a high-level only.  In other words: from a preliminary perspective, does this project seem to meet our vision for The COR?  Generally, staff believes all of these concepts are worth considering.

The purpose of these concepts is NOT to get into a detailed discussion about exact number of square feet, exact number of floors, exact number of parking stalls, exact building configuration, exactly how the surrounding land uses are shown, or exactly how the building will look.  The purpose is general/ high-level.  Once the City can provide the developer with general direction on a desired site (or two), the developer will come back with a more detailed site concept layout (will be more detailed, and will also better reflect their vision).

For the sake of context, attached to this case are plans for a project this developer is currently constructing in Eagan.  This is a good base example of what they are looking at for Ramsey.  With that said, adjustments will need to be made to meet Ramsey zoning, vision, and demographics.

 

Preliminary Specifications

• Inland Group (http://inlandconstruction.com/) is a development company based out of Washington. 
• One of their subsidiaries is Affinity Living Communities (http://affinityforliving.com/). 
• Senior, independent, 55+ (not assisted living)
• Estimated 175 units (may be adjusted)
• Market rate, high amenity (not low income)
• Anticipate a 4-5 story building
• Anticipate 1^st floor structured parking (100%)
• Want roughly 1.5 parking stalls per unit (may be adjusted)
• Not willing to use a shared parking ramp (non-starter item)
• Opposed to any commercial/ retail (but, open to discuss if required by City)
• Desire a spring 2018 construction
• Need 3-5 acres
• No assistance requested at this time (however, this project will likely trigger construction of public infrastructure, and staff expects a request to come at some point).
• The developer needs direction on site location before they can proceed with a project.

Developer's Comments
The developer has completed a preliminary review of the attached concepts.  Below are their high-level comments.

NA

It appears this project would best fit the City's COR-1 Zoning District.  4 of the 5 attached site concepts are located within the COR-1 Zoning District.  One concept (D) is located partially in The COR-1 zoning district (east side) and partially in the COR-2 zoning district.  Attached is The COR Zoning District map.

Inland Group was brought to the city by CBRE.  It should be noted: CBRE is representing the buyer.  Staff intends to write the PA accordingly.

Provide direction to the City Council on what sites are desirable for this project (or which sites are not).