Review Strategy for Listing City-Owned Land For Sale

The purpose of this case is to review the City's strategy for marketing City-Owned Land For Sale.

The EDA met in January to discuss this topic.  Consensus of the EDA was to have a Joint Work Session with the City Council to gain further input.

The City has been engaged in a contract with CBRE since January 28, 2014 to list and market City owned properties in the COR and other areas. The City and CBRE have executed multiple amendments to the contract with the latest being a one year contract from July 31, 2018-July 30, 2019.  Staff has found CBRE agent Brian Pankratz to be available, engaged, knowledgable and helpful when it comes to marketing city owned parcels.  CBRE utilizes many proven marketing methods including, but not limited to, signage on site, MNCAR (internet) and connection to the broker community.  With the current contract coming up for renewal in July 2019 (can be canceled with 30 day notice), Staff believes it is important to review the current contract, its terms and conditions, and to determine if a renewal is prudent or to explore other options. The original contract and pertinent amendments are attached to this case.

Having a company like CBRE market city properties to its broker community and clients has its advantages.  CBRE has a good reputation within the broker community. The maintenance and updating of marketing materials by CBRE including, signage and MNCAR listings is convenient for Staffand access to current market data is helpful.  Based on city records the City has closed on nine properties, with three more pending that CBRE has listed for the City since 2014. 

Currently, the City has 17 City owned properties listed with CBRE including six under contract.  Eleven of these properties are in the COR and the rest are scattered across the community.  Currently, the B & A Cylinder site should be removed from the listing agreement due to its location and potential impacts of a future interchange on Ramsey Boulevard.  The City markets the Bury and Carlson site, the Basalt industrial site and assists with others that are shovel ready certified. 

Recently, Anoka County has added a regional economic development presence to the County as presented to the EDA last year.  The City of Ramsey is a part of this partnership and has the opportunity to list its properties on MNCAR at a nominal cost.  This is a feature is also provided by CBRE as part of its listing contract.  Anoka County does not provide signage on site for marketing and does not yet have the reputation like a CBRE in the broker communty at this time.  It is difficult to fully compare CBRE to the new Anoka County Regional Economic Development Partnership. CBRE is proven industry leader, but there are some cost advantages of utilizing the MNCAR service that Anoka County can provide that reach the same audience in similar ways.

N/A for public hearing purposes but if the City wishes to end/amend its contract with CBRE 30 day written notice must be provided.

There are many options the City could look at regarding the marketing of city owned land.  They could include:

1. Renew Contract with CBRE.
2. Amend Contract with CBRE on the number of properties listed for specific properties/areas/property types.
3. Amend Contract with CBRE based on terms including Commission %, Look Back Period, and considerations on circumstances when prospects reach out to the City directly.
4. Split listings between City and CBRE with City utilizing Anoka County MNCAR subscription and other marketing avenues to assist.
5. Have the City of Ramsey market all its properties and utilize Anoka County, LOIS, Costar/Loopnet and other mediums.
6. Have the City of Ramsey market all its properties and utilize Anoka County, LOIS, Costar/Loopnet and other mediums AND pay commissions to brokers that bring in deals that close.
7. Something else.

Based on the complexity of these options staff is seeking input from both the City Council and EDA  to discuss our marketing and listing strategy moving forward. In the interim, Staff is comfortable in continuing listing with CBRE.

No additional funding is necessary at this point. Commission is paid to CBRE and deducted from the sale of real property.

No action is being requested. The desired outcome is general feedback on listing strategy. Staff would recommend that the City continue to list its industrial listings and retain CBRE for some other listing types.  Discussion relating to whether CBRE should continue to list all housing, retail, office, COR, non-COR and multi-family parcels, or if the City should consider listing some of this parcels on it own should be addressed.  

Timeframe: 30 Minutes

No action is being requested. The desired outcome is general feedback on listing strategy.