Met Council awards $15.4M to 17 projects

The dream of a walkable, arts-centered cultural district with a mix of housing, retail and commercial uses in Minneapolis’ Prospect Park is one step closer to fruition.

The Metropolitan Council  on Wednesday awarded the city of Minneapolis a grant of $2.7 million to jump-start the long-awaited project along the Central Corridor light rail transit line.

The Prospect Park grant is one of 17 that the council approved Wednesday for a handful of cities along major corridors for transit-oriented development. The grants, which total $15.4 million, range from $40,000 to $2.7 million apiece.

In Prospect Park, the city of Minneapolis and the Bloomington-based Cornerstone Group plan to spend $2 million to purchase the former site of sheet-metal fabricator Boeser Inc., which is behind the future Prospect Park/29th Avenue Station on the Central Corridor LRT. (Submitted rendering: The Cornerstone Group)

The program includes 94 municipalities eligible to apply for grants to make them more transit- and pedestrian-friendly, said Paul Burns, manager of the council’s Livable Communities program. Communities awarded funding are Anoka, Apple Valley, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Richfield, St. Louis Park and St. Paul. The council did not approve two grants totaling $750,369 to the city of Ramsey.

“Especially given the council’s recent investment in the several transit corridors, we felt that, without taking money away from our regular Livable Communities programs, we could kind of have a win-win,” Burns said. “We could help support the transit investment and help the participating communities along those corridors to accomplish some of their transit-oriented goals.”

The committee revised previous estimates of the grants’ economic impact, concluding that they would yield 653 affordable housing units, 593 market-rate housing units, 1,000 construction jobs and another 1,000 full- or part-time jobs in the developed areas. The grants also are expected to spur $32 million in other public investment, $240 million in private investment and $400 million in taxable market value, the committee estimated.

The grants would help with development along light rail and high-frequency bus routes such as the Cedar Avenue bus rapid transit (BRT) line, the Interstate 35W BRT, the Central Corridor light rail transit (LRT) line, the Hiawatha LRT, Northstar commuter rail line and the proposed Southwest Corridor LRT.

Two of the three largest grants went to proposed stations along the Central Corridor LRT line: the Prospect Park Station Boeser site ($2.7 million) and the Hamline Station in St. Paul ($2.5 million). Another $2 million grant went to a site at Penn and Broadway in Minneapolis, which was heavily damaged in the May 2011 tornado and could be part of the proposed Bottineau Corridor.

In Prospect Park, the city of Minneapolis and the Bloomington-based Cornerstone Group plan to spend $2 million to purchase the former site of sheet-metal fabricator Boeser Inc. The property is at 2901 Fourth St. S.E., behind the future Prospect Park/29th Avenue Station on the Central Corridor LRT.

The plan is to redevelop the site into 250 units of energy-efficient rental housing, with 20 percent of them affordable units. The project is part of a larger master plan by the city and the Prospect Park East River Road Improvement Association to design housing for intergenerational residents, reduce automobile use and create the cultural district. The rest of the grant, or $720,307, would be used for asbestos and lead-based paint abatement.

“This grant allows us to gain site control of a critical site at this station area,” said Colleen Carey, president of the Cornerstone Group. “In the end, this station area will hopefully have a nice transit plaza and a couple of public buildings.”

Minneapolis city planners see the Prospect Park site as ideal for a mixed-income development because it will give residents quick access via the LRT to the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis as well as to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, said Tom Streitz, director of housing and policy development for the city of Minneapolis.

“We feel like the Met Council, their recent grant and programs fit very well with Minneapolis’ plans and views in building out our corridors, building along transportation lines,” Streitz said.

Encouraging economic development and job growth along transit corridors is a priority of the Met Council, according to a statement by Chairwoman Susan Haigh.

“Expanding the number of people who live and work on major transitways ensures we make better use of our resources, expanding opportunities for all,” she said. “Across the country, employers are seeking to locate in areas where their employees enjoy a high quality of life that includes easy access to the workplace and the resources they need to fulfill their duties. These grants will help cities attract major employers who will bring jobs that metro residents are eager to fill.”

The Penn and Broadway project would include the acquisition of land at 2413, 2419 and 2423 Penn Ave. and 2508 and 2512 Queen Ave. and the construction of a building with 16,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor with up to 75 units of affordable rental housing and shared parking on the upper three floors. A new transit stop at the northwest corner of Penn and Broadway would be designed to accommodate BRT and bike commuters.

The project proposed adjacent to the Hamline Station in St. Paul includes the $24 million development of two four-story, mixed-use buildings connected by underground parking and a central public plaza that will serve as a “pocket park” and break up the long expanse of street facade.

The Minneapolis nonprofit Project for Pride in Living will develop the buildings to replace the former Midway Chevrolet at 1389 University Ave. W., offering 108 units of affordable housing and 13,700 square feet of commercial space. The $2.5 million grant includes about $1.8 million for land acquisition, $500,000 to clean up contaminated soil and structure, and $192,000 for utility line relocation in the alley.

“Typically, PPL looks to develop units for families, so there’ll be a good portion of these units that will be two to three bedrooms,” said Sara Garry, director of fundraising and communications for PPL. “We really are hoping to complete financing for the project by the end of the year 2012 with anticipated construction in the spring or summer of 2013.”

Other St. Paul projects include:

$2 million for construction of senior housing and nursing care units by Episcopal Homes at 1890 University Ave., the former Porky’s drive-in site;
$979,100 for a mixed-use development called Central Exchange at 771-785 University Ave.;
$412,521 for adaptive reuse by Minneapolis apartment developer Dominium of the brew house tower at the Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh Street.

Episcopal Homes is acting as developer for its project, adjacent to its existing Iris Park Commons assisted living facility and nursing home at 1850 University Ave. W.

The nonprofit is assembling $32 million for the seven-story building, with construction scheduled to begin in spring 2013. It will include a 1,500-square-foot coffee shop with outdoor seating on the corner of University and East Lynnhurst Avenue, said Chief Executive Officer Marvin Plakut. “This is huge,” Plakut said of the Met Council grant.

“All the projects are important to us,” said Cecile Bedor, director of the St. Paul Office of Planning and Economic Development. “These are kind of the first projects out of the chute on Central Corridor and really reflect the principles of transit-oriented design. We’re really pleased that the committee recognized this as well.”

Wes Chapman, an architect who now works at Orfield Laboratories, Inc. in Minneapolis reminds designers and developers about the importance of two product qualities: light and sound.  With all the time building occupants spend in their offices and homes, slight differences in the environment can affect productivity, health, and happiness.

For example, many new styles of super-efficient light bulbs like T-5’s and LED’s emit much more glare than their incandescent predecessors.  Brighter is not always better when it comes to user comfort.  In fact, the City of Minneapolis has reevaluated their plan to install super bright LEDs in street lights due to the glare reducing night vision of pedestrians, drivers, and police officers.  Chapman advises that some bulbs are better than others.  Toshiba LEDs, which go through rigorous product testing in Japan, can be a less-glary option.

Developers are trying out new techniques to shape the indoor environment, creating a more stimulating, pleasant atmosphere.  For example, some new churches install color-changing LED lights that can be used to change a room’s aura and its actual wall colors to match the seasons.  Imagine how cool it would be to have that feature in your house?  It would save you a lot of time painting!  Wind-like breezes are possible from HVAC systems in large open indoor spaces, to prevent some areas from being overly heated or cooled, and give building occupants a more natural experience.

One of the areas developers may overlook is noise output by appliances like HVAC units and refrigerators.  Just another way small decisions can have a big impact on a resident’s overall comfort in, and opinion of, their home.  Next time you’re working on a project, or giving feedback about one, don’t forget the details!  They can make the difference between a satisfied, comfortable resident and one that quickly moves out.

Solar PV array on the rooftop of the Minneapolis Convention Center

Solar PV (photovoltaic) electricity is rapidly becoming a more affordable option for buildings’ and communities’ clean energy needs.  Scalable in that it can be used anywhere from small houses to large-scale power plants, solar PV now employs over 100,000 Americans, more than the coal industry.  In fact, solar power creates the most jobs per megawatt of any energy source – just one more reason solar is good for the economy.

According to Environment Minnesota, the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically over the last 3 years, 50-75%, and enormous potential for solar currently exists.  In the US, solar provides only 1/10 of one percent of all energy consumed.

While most of us in the states are still powered by fossil fuels, countries with less solar potential than ourselves, such as Germany, are leading the clean energy revolution.  Germany accounts for over 50% of all installed solar worldwide due to government subsidies for clean energy.

Considering that $409 billion is spent annually worldwide to subsidize fossil fuels, compared with $66 billion

Solar thermal potential in US

for renewable energy subsidies, simple policy changes can have a tremendous impact.  Dr. Alf Bjorseth, Chairman of Scatec, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, states “Solar PV is in transition from a niche technology to a mainstream source of power.” With 1.3 billion global citizens having no access to electricity, both decentralized and grid-tied solar PV systems will continue to light up previously dark rural villages each year, improving quality of life, economic productivity, and educational opportunities.

By 2015, solar PV will reach a key milestone; it will be priced competitive with other energy sources including nuclear and coal.  While solar is an intermittent energy source, new research in energy storage promises a bright future for everyday (and night) use of solar power.  Dr. Janie Davidson at the University of Minnesota believes that buildings in Minnesota can not only be powered by solar PV, but they can utilize solar thermal for water heating, and eventually, space heating and cooling.  New technologies for storage may have the potential to store solar thermal energy long-term, offsetting winter heating demand.  Dr. Davidson’s team at the U of M demonstrates these principles in their Solar Decathlon house, which was awarded the first place prize for engineering.

Contrary to popular belief, Minnesota has higher potential for solar thermal than all of the east coast and much of the US, aside from southwestern states.  But what’s the most important thing to remember about solar?  As a billboard in Albany, New York says: “When there’s a huge solar energy spill, it’s called a nice day.”

The Cornerstone Group plans to incorporate solar PV systems into upcoming projects, including the Lyndale Garden Center redevelopment.  

Billboard in Albany, NY

The Blossoms of Hope bus shelter in North Minneapolis. Image provided by Minnesota Public Radio.

How can we get real estate developers, city officials, planners, architects, and artists to all come together in the same room?

This is an idea Colleen Carey has been pondering for years. Carey organizes a networking / think-tank group called GeoEcoLab to bring together various stakeholders in the development industry to work towards community redevelopment goals.

Centered by her vision of creating great places to live work and play, Carey invites local leaders to give participants a different perspective on development, specifically incorporating the six following elements into site design and urban planning: art & artists, nature & open space, local food and urban agriculture, active living, sustainability, and collaboration and innovation.

Arts have long been an anchor of cultural diversity in the Twin Cities. From visual arts to performing arts to art in public spaces, the Twin Cities is a leader in the arts nationwide. But how can art become more pervasive in the lives of everyday citizens? How can art coexist with private development, creating areas of interest and attraction in everyday communities?

Carey invited several guest speakers to share their thoughts on this topic including Karl Reichart of Capri Theater, Mary Altman with the City of Minneapolis, and Michael Robbins and Bonnie Morris of Illusion Theater.

A strong theme was apparent throughout: art impacts our daily lives. Whether we are posing for pictures by the Spoonbridge & Cherry or the Mary Tyler Moore statue with out-of-town guests, waiting for transit at an artist-designed shelter, attending a theatre production, or discussing controversial issues that surfaced as the result of art, art shapes culture and has the ability to influence citizens and communities for positive change.

Karl Reichart has worked with the Capri Theater to revitalize North Minneapolis, offering everything from

The Capri Theater in North Minneapolis

professional productions and to an “open mic nite” that brings out local youth to share their original poetic rap songs. A children’s theater camp buses North Minneapolis kids free of charge to the Capri to develop talents they never imagined they had. The Capri Theater was one of many performing arts spaces in North Minneapolis at one time and now is the only restored theatre in the neighborhood, serving an important role in the community, providing a source of hope and pride.

The City of Minneapolis is so supportive of the arts that it is has its own Public Arts Administrator. Each year, Mary Altman oversees the commissioning of key public works of art. In 2011, she worked with artist Marjorie Pitz on the Blossoms of Hope vase and bouquet style bus shelter at the corner of Broadway and Penn in North Minneapolis. Ms. Altman emphasizes that citizens need to raise their voices about public art, contacting their city council members in support of art projects that enhance the community. Public art plays a critical role in establishing a sense of place for residents and she points to examples of the city’s most famous sculptures, the Spoonbridge and Cherry, and Mary Tyler Moore, that tell passerby’s “You are here in Minneapolis.”

The little theatre that could, the Illusion Theatre, has transformed culture, bringing to light important social issues and catalyzing progressive change. Michael Robbins and Bonnie Morris recount the many ways that Illusion has broken through cultural stereotypes and opened up a new platform for communication on difficult topics like child sexual abuse. Their 1980’s hit Amazing Grace informed citizens about the reality of HIV/AIDs and resulted in policy changes at Minneapolis Public Schools to end discrimination of LGBT individuals. In 1997,

Bill Clinton's public apology to Tuskegee survivors.

President Bill Clinton made a public apology to the survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment after Illusion’s play on the subject raised national awareness of the unethical study conducted on 399 black men from 1932-1972.

While it’s easy to recognize the importance of art, how to bring art into private and public development is a greater challenge. Working to merge the quantifiable, organized business of real estate development with the sometimes messy, chaotic, and magical world of art is no easy task. Conversations like these are the start. Now it’s up to public officials, private developers, and everyone in between to support and collaborate with artists, expanding the scope of art’s reach.

The Richfield-based Cornerstone Group closed Nov. 21 on the $3 million site acquisition of the former Lyndale Garden Center at 6400 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield.

Developer Colleen Carey of Cornerstone has unveiled the details of her plan to work with local artists and the community to design a $36 million town center anchored by the former garden center.

Lyndale Gardens LLC is the entity that purchased the site from Del Mar, Calif.-based Rancho Richfield LLC. The site acquisition was made with assistance from the city of Richfield, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Council, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and the Family Housing Fund.

“Our vision is to create great places to live, work and play,” Carey said in a statement about the acquisition.

Carey said she is in talks with a natural foods grocer, a hardware store and other retail tenants, and has started refurbishing the long-vacant garden center building into 48,000 square feet of new retail space. Later phases will include mixed-use space and 125 units of affordable and market-rate apartments.

Carey said she plans to work with artists to make art a key element of all three buildings in the plan. The design also includes a band shell along Richfield Lake and trails to connect the site with the lake and the existing Wood Lake Nature Center trails.

For future updates on the Lyndale Garden Center project please visit our blog or follow @TCGMN on Twitter or The Lyndale Garden Center on Facebook. 

“Our vision is to create great places to live, work, and play,” states Colleen Carey, President of the Cornerstone Group.

The Cornerstone Group believes that healthy, vibrant communities include five critical components that must be integrated into the development.  These include:

Art & Artists:  The three building components will be designed in collaboration with local artists who will help to create a unique design that utilizes local art as a focal point.  A new band shell for live performances is planned for the west side of the site along Richfield Lake.   The Cornerstone Group is also seeking grants to incorporate interactive artistic elements into the site.

Nature and Open Space:  New walking and biking trails will provide improved access to Richfield Lake and connect with existing Wood Lake Nature Center trails.

Sustainability:  New buildings will be designed to minimize their impact on the environment by utilizing the latest building technologies.

Local Food & Urban Agriculture:  The Cornerstone Group will continue its urban farming initiatives at the new site, with small plots dedicated to the demonstration of productive edible urban agriculture.  Onsite food retailers and vendors will increase local residents’ access to natural food choices.

Active Living:  The buildings and grounds will be designed for healthy living, including safe, convenient access to transit and trails as well as providing a variety of opportunities for safe, convenient, and affordable physical activity.

Proposed site plan for phases I, II, and III of the Lyndale Garden Center project.

Carey envisions a transformation for the site that will happen in three phases.  Phase I is already in process – TCG is in talks with several retail tenants including a natural foods grocer and a hardware store.  The former greenhouse building will be refurbished to accommodate new retail tenants, a restaurant, office and performance or event space.

Phase II, a new mixed-use building north of the existing garden center building along Lyndale Avenue will establish a new home for the Minnesota Life College, a Richfield not-for-profit, vocational, and life skills training program for young adults with learning differences and autism spectrum disorders.

New market rate apartment homes overlooking Richfield Lake will be constructed in Phase III.

For future updates on the Lyndale Garden Center project please visit our blog or follow @TCGMN on Twitter or The Lyndale Garden Center on Facebook. 

Developer Colleen Carey of the Richfield-based Cornerstone Group is preparing to buy the former

The former Lyndale Garden Center, 6400 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield, will be redeveloped by the Cornerstone Group. The proposed $36 million project would include 48,000 square feet of retail space and about 125 housing units. (File photo: Bill Klotz)

Lyndale Garden Center for a mixed-use redevelopment. The site at 6400 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield has been vacant for five years.

“We are closing on Monday,” Carey said. “We’re really excited about the possibilities for this site. It fits with our mission, which is working on projects that have the opportunity to transform communities.”

Carey is proposing a $36 million project that would include 48,000 square feet of retail space and about 125 housing units, including both affordable and market-rate apartments. The project would be developed in three phases.

Carey’s group is paying $3 million for the site, which has been owned by the Del Mar, Calif.-based Rancho Richfield LLC. It has an assessed value of about $2.7 million, according to Hennepin County property tax records.

“We’re the sole investor at this point. We will be bringing in equity investors for the different phases as we need them,” Carey said.

She expects the retail part of the site to move forward first.

“We have a couple of big tenants that are interested,” Carey said. “We want to create a town center for the city of Richfield at this location.”

For future updates on the Lyndale Garden Center project please visit our blog or follow @TCGMN on Twitter or The Lyndale Garden Center on Facebook. 

zHome in Issaquah, WA offers 10 for-sale carbon-neutral townhomes.

With so many buildings LEED certified, you may be asking yourself, where does this all lead to (no pun intended)?

The next wave of green buildings will be the tipping point for sustainability in our cities, the culmination of years of integrating smaller sustainability measures and now envisioning a holistic system for an entire site and how it connects with the environment.

“Net-zero energy,” also called “zero-net energy” or “carbon neutral” communities are starting to spring up around the U.S.  During this somewhat experimental phase of NZE, developers taking the plunge are typically receiving some source of public financing.  But in the long-run, the results of these communities’ successes will drive private development also.

Paisano Green Community Net-Zero Energy affordable senior housing development in El Paso, Texas. Image provided by Workshop8.

Take for example, Paisano Green Community, a 73-unit affordable senior housing development in El Paso Texas.  PGC is funded in part by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Developed by the El Paso Housing Authority, this self-sufficient community is set to open on Earth Day 2012.  Boasting large solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays on the rooftops of its 4 residential buildings, residents can expect to pay an annual utility bill of close to $8.  The project will use zero fossil fuels and all energy consumed is projected to be generated onsite.  Recent net metering legislation allows the property owners to sell back excess energy generated to the grid via the local utility company.  Being connected to the grid also serves as back-up in the event that extra energy is needed onsite.  Ultimately the community is designed and engineered projecting carbon neutral results.

NZE has hit the for sale world also.   In Issaquah, Washington, ZHome has brought to market 10 net-zero energy townhomes.  This is the first for-sale development of NZE multifamily product in the United States.

One of the most impressive NZE prototypes is a new community that is part of the UC Davis campus called West Village.  “Students, staff and faculty at the University of California, Davis, are helping pioneer the largest planned zero net energy community in the United States — one that is an ambitious and yet realistic model for the country. About 800 students, faculty and staff, in 315 apartments that opened in fall 2011, are bringing to life the new campus community of UC Davis West Village that will meet its own building energy needs by using aggressive energy efficiencies to reduce consumption and generating renewable energy on site.”

UC Davis West Village offers zero-net energy living for students, faculty, and staff.

While the green movement may still have naysayers, there’s nothing to debate when a property pays $0 in annual electricity costs.  Eliminating use of fossil fuels by generating energy onsite with non-polluting methods such as solar and wind, these new communities are more valuable than their counterparts from the day they open their doors – more valuable to the developer, owner, and the residents, without negatively impacting the environment.  Now that’s true sustainability.

Although LEED certifications dropped off during the recession and it took 10 years for the first billion square feet of commercial space to become LEED certified, in just the last 2.5 years, LEED reached a milestone of adding another billion square feet of certified space!

But what’s the importance of achieving a 3rd-party certification like LEED versus building or operating facilities sustainably without a green label?  Diversey, a Wisconsin company, hired Harris to conduct a survey of 1,016 US adults to determine the public’s perceptions of green buildings.  “Is it the right thing to do or is it also right for business?” asked John Matthews, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Diversey.

What we found is that “It’s not only right for business but it’s an enormous opportunity to build brand value.”  64% of adults surveyed would prefer to patronize a business whose facility is certified by a 3rd party environmental organization, and nearly half believe that a company’s image improves if its facilities are certified.  Women and customers ages 18-54 are more likely to perceive companies that operate in a green facility in a positive light.

Some interesting facts about recent LEED projects:
1.    The most common level of LEED certification is Gold, with only 5-6% of projects achieving Platinum certification.
2.    While New Construction certifications still dominate, Existing Buildings and Commercial Interiors project registrations are up.  This is in part due to a quicker process for these rating systems.  Existing buildings typically take between 17-18 months from project registration to certification, while new construction hovers around 32 months.
3.    45% of 2011 LEED projects are in international locations.

The results are also in for the new version of LEED – LEED 2009.  LEED 2009 projects are seeing an average energy reduction of 32% vs. 27% for the previous version of LEED, v. 2.2.

LEED for Homes, a relatively new rating system, is also growing, with a 28% increase of certifications from 2010 to 2011.  Currently, 16,000 homes are certified with 50,000 in process.  Of these, approximately 56% are multi-family and 44% are single-family.

Based on various studies, LEED’s green label brings in the green at the end of the day.  Sales prices range from 8.5% to 26% higher than non-LEED buildings, vacancies range from 3-6% lower than average, and 5-7% rent premiums are typical.

“Obtaining 3rd party certification for your development is like graduating from Stanford,” explains Watson.  “If you are already investing the time and money in your development, it just doesn’t make sense to drop out right before graduation.”

At the Cornerstone Group, we have always known that building green makes sense for the environment, our residents, and the bottom line.  We are confident that as results from more green building studies are released, the benefits will continue to outweigh the costs. Read about TCG’s sustainability initiatives.

When it comes to development, Colleen Carey, President of The Cornerstone Group, doesn’t believe in just razing one property to replace it with a run-of-the-mill mixed use concept.  Rather, her goal is to “transform the spaces that surround us into spaces that inspire us.”  Her upcoming project, which will transform an abandoned retail site on a core section of Lyndale Avenue in Richfield, will accomplish her company’s mission with a variety of unique components that connect housing and retail with principles of sustainability, community, and the arts.

The ambitious project involves several stages; firstly, there are new retail tenants to secure and a dilapidated greenhouse to rehab.  Carey’s ideal tenant mix includes a natural foods grocer and boutique retail, a local café, and she is exploring the idea of having a farmer’s market – either indoors or outdoors on the site.  Also incorporated in the former Garden Center building will be community space including room for performance arts.

Outdoor areas on the property which extend to Richfield Lake will provide bike trails that serve as a portal connecting to Richfield Lake Park and the surrounding community.  Additional plans for the site include a potential outdoor amphitheatre or band shell and community gardens that feature edible produce and local artwork.

On the north side of the site Cornerstone will develop two or three new multifamily buildings, for a total of 114 units.  The majority of the units will be market rate rentals; there will also be 20% affordable units.  Carey’s mission is to make the site not just a segmented mix of housing and retail, but a community gathering center that features entertainment and events, markets, the arts, and family activities for all Richfield residents to enjoy.

The Cornerstone Group plans to acquire the site this fall and begin construction early next year.  Colleen Carey founded The Cornerstone Group in 1993 and has successfully developed over $200 million in housing and mixed-use projects in Minnesota.  Ms. Carey is a member of the University of St. Thomas Real Estate Advisory Board and is currently Board Chair at Minnesota Land Trust and Chair at ULI Minnesota.