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THE CROWN JEWEL
IS VICTORIA READY FOR IT?
"We have several different groups in-terested in the development of downtown Victoria," stated Mayor Mary Meuwissen on August 3rd, at a special city council workshop. Two development groups made presentations to councilmembers that Friday morning and afternoon.
The city had asked the different groups to create a vision for the three-acre parcel located along Stieger Lake Lane, between Victoria Hall and the Victoria Dairy Queen. The three homes on that property have been purchased by the City of Victoria in order to maintain some control over development of that property, which is immediately adjacent to down-town Victoria.
At the following regularly scheduled council meeting on Thursday, August 9th, the mayor announced, "We will be bring-ing back Harry's group for a formal awarding of the downtown project. They'll be bringing us elevations and greater visions. They were ecstatic to be awarded the project. They are charged, ready to go, sleeves up."
Development Rights
On Thursday, August 23rd, Council formally awarded downtown redevelop-ment rights to a development team that consists of three firms: Apex Asset Management Corporation, represented by Tom Dillon; Trend Architects, represented by Harry Gerrish; and Krause Anderson Construction, represented by John Campobasso.
This team now holds redevelopment rights on the three-acre parcel at Stieger Lake Lane for 90 days, during which time they will likely spend thousands of dollars to develop blueprints and other details necessary for its development. The team will have to get all approvals from the City of Victoria because the city owns the property. The team will have to nego-tiate with the city to acquire the land and build on the land.
At the end of 90 days, the city can accept or reject any or all pieces of the team's initiative.
What is the vision of this development team that won over the council? The vision is an impressive building of 46 condominium units which will sell for anywhere from $150,000 to $300,000. The building, overlooking Stieger Lake, will have a Bavarian or Middle European style. Each residential unit will have a sunporch or solarium.
In his introduction at the August 3rd workshop, John Campobasso said that Krause Anderson did $740 million worth of "very diverse" construction last year including medical, retail, schools, Super Targets, Starbucks, River City Center in Shakopee, Biwabik City Hall, River Walk Center in East Grand Forks, and Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria.
Harry Gerrish of Trend Architects said he's had 45 years of architectural experience and 15 major housing projects, restaurants and shops, including work in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Miami.
"Our focus is to look at this conceptually to see what will get the ball rolling for you," he said.
The Condominiums
In presenting a drawing of the pro-posed 46-unit residential building, Mr. Gerrish said parking is underneath with above-ground overflow parking. There is an international flavor to the building. He said the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum would love to have a little garden in a sun-room as part of the ambience.
Regarding the project, which is being viewed as the catalyst for downtown re-development, he said, "This will affect the city for a long, long time."
Said Tom Dillon, developer with Apex, "It does set the tone for the entire town. It is a difficult site to develop. Because it's on the lake, there are lots of different agencies to work with. It's a three-story building, could be a four-story building. We're not sure what's proper for this site."
Mr. Dillon said the vision includes one bedroom units from 850 to 950 square feet, two bedroom units from 1,150 square feet, and some three bedroom units at 1,800 square feet. Unit pricing would be from $160 to $175 square feet.
"This is a quality project but we don't want to go over the top in pricing." He said the units, "in general," would sell for $150,000 to $315,000. "It's important to think about who is the customer. You will get some infiltration from outside of Vic-toria and maybe attract relatives of those living in Victoria."
He predicted site acquisition from city to developer in December of this year. "I don't think that's unrealistic," he said. "We would look to start as soon as possible. Construction would begin by next spring with a 10 to 12-month construction period. Resident move-in could be as early as April, 2003. I don't think that's too aggressive. I will be personally involved from start to finish."
"We haven't tested the marketplace," he said, "but Victoria has a very long history. It's always had charm. The metro area is growing. We would try to start community meetings this fall."
Said Mayor Mary about the project as it leads into downtown redevelopment, "This is a little bit of an engine. It has to be a stellar project. We have to have something like this." She said it would lead to downtown retail establishments on main levels with lesser expensive housing above the retail. "This project will help us do that," she said. "The downtown is our new focus. There are only 200 buildable residential lots left in Victoria. It'll probably be two to three years before we take on more land." In looking to the future of Victoria and downtown Victoria, Mayor Mary said, "It's the music and performing arts people, the theater people, who are calling us, which will lead to boutiques and shops. This project is like a crown jewel to them. We have top people from all over ready to come in." Click here for more City Scoop.
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