Agenda Item: 50 Cityot--- Faribault Discussion Items TO: FROM: MEETING DATE: SUBJECT: Faribault EDA Deanna Kuennen, Director July 20, 2017 Updates/Project Reports UPDATES: Prospects/Business Updates Staff has been responding to very early stage inquiries for the following : Hotel - seeking locations along the 1-35 corridor/easy interstate access Charter School - seeking 30,000 sf existing facility for a 350 student school Project Daisy - large scale industrial user (production of high-tech product}, seeking 750,000 SF Medical Service Provider - small local provider, seeking sites/assistance for the construction of a multi-tenant facility Sandy Barin, CBRE - large industrial user, seeking 35 acres on the UP Rail line, with room for a rail switch. Please note - the CP Rail serves the Northern Industrial Park and the Met-Con business park, not UP. Typically, when a prospect requests a specific rail carrier it is because their destination or origination is on that line. It is costly to switch rail carriers, so instead they reverse engineer locations already served by the proper carrier. In addition, DEED and Great River Energy (GRE) have contacted Staff regarding available land for a prospect and/or for speculative development. DEED and GRE are exploring sites across SE Minnesota, based on the positive response from Project T-Wave. They strongly feel that the Faribault area is prime for large-scale development, and want to identify land opportunities - working with the City to make the site(s) shovel-ready. Staff is evaluating costs to serve land (Met-Con I McDonough Farms), and the annexation process. Downtown Commercial Exterior Rehab & Fa~ade Improvement Program This program has been going well, with approximately 1/3 of the funds awarded to date. 19 applications have been sent to interested building owners 9 completed applications have been returned 7 awards have been made A second postcard mailing will be sent to property owners within the designated eligibility area. Old Public Works Site Staff has been asked to assist with facilitating the possible redevelopment of the old Public Works site at 601 1st Avenue. City Council discussed this site earlier last year. Staff has been working with American Engineering Testing to review and update the existing environmental reports, map the areas of concern in regards to the know contaminants, and identify steps associated with the process of
Agenda Item: SD redeveloping/reusing/selling a contaminated site. Staff has also been exploring the similarities/differences between this site and the Heritage Bluff and Boston's site - in which the EDA was involved - from both a contamination standpoint and process standpoint. In March, the City Council requested the following : Complete the Limited Phase I ESA Addendum and submit to the MPCA (this allows the site to be re-entered into the MPCA's voluntary clean-up program) - this was submitted in April. Recently the MPCA has responded and has requested additional information based on rule changes. Staff is working with AET to prepare a plan on how to determine the extent of the contamination (regardless of property boundaries). Once finalized, the proposed plan will be submitted to MPCA for review and approval. Once approved - the City Council will be asked to authorize the testing/monitoring. Hydraulic modeling and floodplain analysis (to determine what portions of the property can be developed) - ISG is completed the mapping. The majority of the property is outside of the floodplain. The analysis also showed that raising the property would not affect up- or down-stream. However, additional analysis based on a proposed site plan will need to be done to determine the impact of flooding/water on the site. Title work for the property on the east side of the river Begin negotiations and enter into a Preliminary Development Agreement - Preliminary Development Agreement has been prepared and given to Developer. The Developer has not signed the agreement. At this time, the EDA does not have a role in this project directly. As the negotiations move forward, the City Council may request that the EDA be involved in the sale of the land. Other Projects/Initiatives: The following is a summary of some other initiatives and projects underway that may be of interest to the EDA: Artspace: Training for Realtors - The HRA hired Artspace late last year to conduct a preliminary feasibility study regarding the viability of artist live/work spaces in the downtown. The conclusions of the study indicated that Faribault is not quite ready to a mixed-use creative space project, however - they did identify opportunities surrounding downtown development that enhances the creative sector. One of the suggestions was "better marketing" of available spaces for creative activities. The HRA considered sponsoring a training for local brokers/real estate agents to teach the agents creative ways to market the downtown spaces to artists - but has determined at this time not to pursue. Multi-Family Housing Developer Forum - The City has a shortage of apartments to meet the needs of the community. Market-rate and work-force housing are in short supply, and Staff has been contacting metro apartment developers to learn more about specifically what they look for in a community that they desire to build it, site characteristics, and demographics. Joe McElwain from Chase Real Estate attended the HRA meeting on July 1 oth to discuss high-end apartment development. Chase Real Estate owns and operates 1700 units, primarily in St. Paul. Mr. McElwain presented information about their most recent development - focusing on project and unit size, costs, rents, amenities, parking, and target market (income, age). Mr. McElwain answered questions about what it would take to do a project in Faribault. The largest challenge is rents - and whether or not the market would support their existing rent structure. Chase Real Estate is currently
Agenda Item: 50 pricing out a smaller project (60 units). Once those numbers are in, they will have a better feel for what a Faribault project would cost, and whether or not they would be interested in pursuing such a project in our community. In the meantime - Staff is working on getting a proposal to document vacancy rates over the last 2 years. This is required information to access TIF funds. DEED Funding Updates - Staff attended a few DEED presentations regarding the DEED program funding. The legislature made decisions that impact funding levels and requ irements. One of the presentations is attached. To summarize: o Job Creation Fund (JCF) - additional $8.5m for each FY18 and 19. In addition, investment levels for outstate was reduced to $250,000 and job creation was reduced to five. o Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) - additional $12.5m each FY 18 and FY19. Cities can also have more than one MIF per year. 2017 FAM Tour - The Minnesota Marketing Partnership is conducting a FAM Tour in September. The tour this year will take place in Minneapolis, and outstate communities are being asked to attend portions of the 2.5-day event and make presentations. More information will be provided to the EDA as the details are finalized. 2018 Budget - The 2018 budget process is underway. Staff is seeking volunteers to work with Staff on the proposed budget. The budget schedule includes: o Approval of Preliminary Levy-August 2017 o Budget & Work Plan Discussion - September 2017 o Approval of Final Levy - November 2017 o Approval of Budget I Work Plan - November 2017 Ongoing Projects - 2017 - here is a list of projects Staff will be and/or continues to work on : o SAGE - JOBZ amendment and MIF/Tax Abatement extension o Business Subsidy Policy - recommended changes to the existing policy, to reflect quality vs. quantity in job creations o Loan administration o Community Profile (collaborating with the Fa ribault Area Chamber of Commerce, creating info graphics, incorporating "community" information based on collected examples) o Revised economic development webpages o Small Cities Development Program - plan for use of funds o Marketing/branding materials o Outreach to Rice County I regionalism o 1-35 corridor o Available land inventory I annexation I acquisition o Downtown issues (parking, etc.)
7/17/2017 Legislative Update July 14, 2017 Legislative changes effective July 1, 2017 for projects in Greater Minnesota include: Minimum capital investment - Minimum jobs created Award value for job created Large project certification Maximum contract term 1
7 /17 /2017 Minimum $250,000 eligible real property improvements - Decreased from $500,000 minimum - Must be made within 1 year of the award date - Rebated at 7.5% Minimum 5 new full-time permanent positions - Must be created within 2 years of award date Job creation award levels increased to $2,000, $3,000 or $4,000 per job - Level based on cash wages 2
7/17/2017 Large project certification - $25 million capital investment - 75 new full-time permanent positions Maximum contract term of 7 years No changes to Metro area projects except for targeted groups 2017 - $7.8M Program Appropriation One-Time RLF Exception seeded by State MIF NO EDA, H RA or Port Authority entities Cash Balance at the Time of application only Reporting? 3
7 /17 /2017 Emerging Entrepreneur Program Awards & Funding $2 million awarded 23 lenders 2016 - Funds from two sources: - $857,000 - Legislative appropriation - $1.143 million in Urban Initiative program repayments 2017 - Additional appropriation of $500,000 per year for two years How many credits remain? - $15.7M in credits for 2017, divided into 2 pots: - $5.7M in general credits: $0 remains as of 6/16/17 - $5.0M credits reserved for targeted businesses; $3.2M remains as of 7/18/17 Minority-owned & managed businesses (Asian, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Native Americans) Women-owned & managed businesses Greater Minnesota businesses (outside 7-county metro area) Unused reserved credits became available for investment in all businesses on 10/1/17 We will begin accepting credit allocations for investments in general businesses on September 5 4
7/17/2017 2017 Legislative Session: Governor's proposal: one year extension at $10M HF 89 (Rep. Sara Anderson): $20M/yr; no sunset Omnibus Tax Bill: $0, then $SM, then $20M, then $0 Thus, program ends 12/31/17 5