By Unsie Zuege

Shingobee Builders of Loretto and St. Cloud, and Doran Companies of Bloomington presented concepts to the city council during a workshop Dec. 13. The city is continuing to negotiate a land swap with the Three Rivers Park District for 13.5 acres of land, west of the current downtown. In anticipation of the swap, the council contacted 10 development firms last summer of which three submitted layouts to the city—Shingobee, Kraus Anderson, and Doran Companies. Based on the layout concepts and presentations to the city’s Finance Committee, Shingobee and Doran were selected to submit letters of interest and more detailed proposals.

“We saw two proposals that were very different from each other,” said Mayor Mary Hershberger Thun, “visually and in the types of services they would provide to the area. One plan has more housing, one has more retail.” Thun said that council reaction was mostly favorable. “But,” she added, “we  still have a long way to go.”

Shingobee’s concept includes a grocer/pharmacy with a canopied gas station, and a liquor license, office/retail, and senior housing. The plan shows a potential space for civic/city hall and public gathering space. In all, the initial design calls for 79,000 square feet of retail, 43,000 square feet of office space, and 17,000 to 25,500 square feet of senior housing.

Shingobee: Shingobee concept offers more retail.

Doran: Doran's concept offers a senior housing complex with continuum of care.

The Doran concept shows a city hall and library building, retail (14,000 square feet) and restaurant (5,000 square feet), a 60-unit, three story apartment building, and a 168-unit senior housing complex.

The preliminary selection of two candidates comes after the city scrutinized an earlier development plan proposal submitted last spring by Matt Crowe, a St. Paul developer. Crowe had purchased and renovated the Notermann Building. He also expressed interest in developing the two properties south of the building, and the land swap area. Crowe had gone so far as to have a preliminary development agreement with the city for the land swap area but when he did not meet the city’s June 1 deadline for more detailed information, it lapsed.  

In seeking concepts for the 13.5 acres, the council provided the following guidelines:

§          Extend existing central business district with multi-purpose, mixed use, compatible with the look of urban development instead of suburban strip mall.

§          Relate and connect the existing downtown and Carver Park Reserve.

§          Use Highway 5 visibility and access for strong street frontage.

§          Complement quality and appearance of city’s downtown architectural design standards.

§          Provide walkability and be pedestrian-friendly,

§          Provide adequate parking

§          Provide attractive landscaping

§          Increase tax base

§          Create pedestrian-friendly commercial storefronts

According to City Administrator Steve Sarvi, next steps include directing the developers to sharpen their concepts based on city feedback, and to get input from other community groups including the Victoria Senior Commission, the Downtown Development committee, and the Chamber of Commerce. The city and council are especially interested in the economic side of the development concepts, and in examining their experience in similar ventures.

“We want to move forward as soon as possible,” Sarvi said. “We’d like to nail down who we work with as soon as possible. Contingent on information and more details, it may be early to mid-winter when we pick the firm. Then (that firm) would have exclusive rights to put together a final plan. We want to sure that there are no false starts.”