CCP 06-28-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES New Brighton Economic Development Commission Approved Regular Meeting—May 17, 2011 7:30 a.m. Members/Liaisons Present: Bob Smith, Terri Snell Marie Hansen, D.L. Beach, Paul Zisla, Councilmember Char Samuelson Members/Liaisons Absent: Mike Murlowski, Vivian Neumann-Walker, Al Potter Staff Present: Grant Fernelius-Community Development Director; Katie Bruno- Office Assistant. Guests Present: None Nomination of Temporary Chairperson Commissioner Smith recommended Commissioner Zisla, serve as Temporary Chairperson, Commissioner Hansen seconded. Call to Order Commissioner Zisla called the meeting to order Approval of Minutes Commissioner Smith motioned approval of the Minutes from the April 19, 2011 meeting, Commissioner Snell seconded. Report from Council Liaison Councilmember Samuelson reported the City Council recently approved the EDC recommendation to approve Welsh and Ryan Companies as Broker and Developers for the New Brighton Exchange project. New Brighton Exchange Report Broker and Developer Teams On Tuesday, May 10th the City Council met in a work session to review the EDC's recommendations on the broker and developer proposals. EDC commissioners Beach and Smith were present to share their feedback, along with our advisors (Arne Cook and Mark Ruff). The Council accepted the EDC's recommendations of Welsh for brokerage services and Ryan Companies for development services. The Council also expressed its gratitude to the EDC on their efforts to go through the interview process and make a final recommendation. Staff is now in the process of working with both companies on the agreements that will be needed before work can be started. We anticipate that the negotiations will take 30 to 45 days to complete, culminating in review and approval by the City Council. Commissioner Zisla requested a brief update. Director Fernelius provided an overview of the recent process. Market Update from Welsh Companies On the office front, it appears that vacancy rates and asking rents have stabilized and the net absorption of office space is improving. Since 2009 the net absorption rate has been negative, but the trend seems to better. This phenomena is expected to continue in 2011, but most experts agree will turn positive in 2012. That will help boost demand for new office space. With regard to land sales, activity is also happening, but it is dominated by the small sites and governmental acquisitions (i.e. economic development purposes).