John Murphy’s MEDINA REAL ESTATE REPORT

The Wayzata City Council held their big meeting last night at West Middle School.  About 300-400 people showed up for this very important vote.

I lost count of the number of people who stood up to publicly address the City Council, but it had to be at least 125 people.  By my count there were probably 6-7 people who spoke up against the project.  Everyone else was in support of it.

I left at about 9:45pm once the 125 people had spoken.  That took over 3 1/2 hours to get through that.  The council meeting then continued on.  I heard from someone still in attendance that the vote came at 1:40am and passed 3 to 2.

What amazes me is the overwhelming support demonstrated by the residents and business owners and employees who work in Wayzata and yet this project passed by the skin of its teeth because of a disproportionate amount of influence a few vocal dissenters had.  They clearly worked hard enough to keep this council wrapped up in deliberations for years about this project and the one before it that was shot down.

The public supported this 95/5 approximately and yet the vote barely passed.  It was great to see the peoples’ voices heard, but now it probably would make sense to unseat those who tried for so long to block this project.  I hope the citizens of Wayzata remember this vote when it comes to elections this fall.

Typically I don’t cover project on the other side of town, but this struck me as being worthwhile given the size and scope of the project.  The city of New Brighton is hopeful this 100 acre project will move forward with a mix of residential (rent and for sale residences) commercial and retail.  I had heard that Rottlund Homes pulled out last year putting the project in jeopardy.

According to this story in the Pioneer Press, it appears things will be back on track for this development.

In case you missed this headline stories for four days running in the Star Tribune, here is the 4 part series on the problems facing many in Wright County in the Twin Cities.

It’s just more bad news from the Star Tribune.  Any chance you think they take some delight in the problems in the suburbs?

United Properties is getting ready to develop the 3.4 acre parcel on the southwest corner of Highway 55 and Sioux Drive in Hamel, MN.  It looks like there will be a credit union along with a coffee shop and room for a small professional services office or perhaps some retail.  The word is Starbuck’s will open a store in this development.

United Properties has an excellent web site describing the plans complete with the site plans, traffic numbers, demographics etc.  Click here to see all the details.

There have been noticeably more stories in the media about the future water shortage that is going to doom America.  I don’t care for the way they tie this in to Global Warming.  It would be better if they played the story straight.

Water shortages will be an issue and it won’t only affect Florida and California.  We will feel its impact in Minnesota as well despite the vast number of fresh water lakes we have.

This will be an important battle in the future and one that will have a major impact on future housing developments as well as existing homes.

Trillium Woods has been approved by the City of Plymouth. This will add a wide mix of housing options for senior citizens as over 400 units will be constructed on the 46 acre parcel south of County Road 47 at Chesire Lane in Northwest Plymouth. (Note, Cheshire Lane will need to be extended to meet County Road 47. It does not connect at this time).
Construction is set to begin next year. The development is expected to be built in two phases, but it’s not expected that the project will be fully completed until 2016.

Issues with traffic on County Road 47 certainly had the Plymouth City Council members concerned. There still is no resolution as to who will ultimately end up owning County Road 47. There has been some talk that Hennepin County wants to give the road to the City of Plymouth, but I’ve heard the costs could run as high as $20 million to get the road improved.

For more details on the development see the Lakeshore Weekly News article.
The website for Trillium Woods has a wonderful map of the property located here.

Trillium senior housing development is proposed for Plymouth on a 46 acre site near County Road 47 and Cheshire.  According to this article in The Weekly News, “the current sketch includeds nearly 240 independent apartments, 60 villa-style apartments, 10 townhomes, 20 assisted living apartments and 20 assisted living apartments with memorty care and 60 beds for skilled nursing.”

Construction is expected to begin in 2009.

Friday, April 13, 2007, the Star Tribune published this story on the oversupply of luxury homes in the Twin Cities.  The story is focusses on the U.S.’s number one luxury home builder, Toll Brothers who has moved in to Eagan and Maple Grove recently.

Here’s the April housing supply outlook from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

The City of Plymouth has $9 million to spend on land for parks and open space initiative.  It was meant to be spent in Northwest Plymouth as that part of the city begins to developed.  However, there are now others looking to spend the money elsewhere in the city.

The most interesting thing is there is a land owner who is willing to sell his land for $300,000 per acre.  Only government would spend that kind of money on land these days.  The developers and builders aren’t spending that to develop.  I hope the city doesn’t go down the road of spending that kind of money for parks or open space.

Here’s the story from The Weekly News.

If you’re in to analyzing data and love to track trends in housing, you have to read this excellent report produced by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.  They have done an incredible job of report all kinds of statistics that both agent and the buying public will find insightful and helpful in understanding today’s marketplace.