Apple Valley is looking for a way to soften the blow from the recent closure of a concrete plant in the city.

City officials admit they were surprised when the Hanson Concrete plant on County Road 42 closed in March, taking with it about 100 jobs.

"We thought it was going to be around for a long time," said Maggie Dykes, associate planner in the Economic Development Department.

But now they hope the chance to redevelop the site in the next year or two will bring more jobs than were lost.

"We see it as a shovel-ready opportunity," Bruce Nordquist, community development director, said. "It allows us to jump-start our jobs initiative. If we were to only generate about 100 new jobs, I would be very disappointed."

When the city was creating its 2030 comprehensive plan for future development, it did not take into account the 80 acres at the Hanson plant because officials did not know it would be available so soon.

Instead, the city focused on creating a corporate campus by developing hundreds of acres of open land that is expected to become available for new businesses at existing sand and gravel operations.

Dykes said those sites, which were the last great open spaces left for development in the city, should become available within the next 10 years or so.

The city is working with the current owners on development plans to create a plan for the corporate campus, seeking to attract medical and health manufacturers and businesses, or possibly green technology manufacturers. It hopes to attract thousands of new jobs through the campus concept.

With the Hanson plant more immediately available, the city has a new chance to grow jobs. Nordquist said city officials believe the site could bring an additional 1,000 jobs and possibly as many as 2,600.

"It's highly important," said Apple Valley City Administrator Tom Lawell. "It's highly visible. We want to make sure we get a good business use there that is going to complement our [future] business park."

As a result, the city is seeking a company to conduct a market analysis of the Hanson property, located at Johnny Cake Ridge Road and County Road 42, to determine what the best use might be.

"We're trying to be visionary about it," said Dykes. "We see it as an opportunity."

Ideally, the city wants to attract companies that will provide "head-of-household jobs," especially since Apple Valley planners do not believe that another concrete maker will take over for Hanson.

Nordquist said there has been pressure from developers to turn any such large tracts of land into more housing. But, thus far, the city has resisted such calls because of the more pressing need to create jobs.

Nordquist and others point out that Apple Valley has a population of about 50,000, but there are only about 13,000 jobs in the community.

Heron Marquez • 952-707-9994