Paul Reinke
President and founder, Silver Oak Development
Capping a 30-year career in commercial real estate, Paul Reinke, 55, decided it was time to go out on his own, so he launched Oakdale-based Silver Oak Development.
The new venture landed a significant client with IRET Properties, a Minot, N.D.-based public real estate investment trust with an office in Minneapolis. IRET owns and develops multifamily and commercial properties primarily in Minnesota and North Dakota. Silver Oak is working on several developments for IRET, including expanding the 273,000-square-foot Southdale Medical Building in Edina. Plans, which the city approved in February, call for building a 60,000-square-foot addition and a five-story parking ramp.
Most recently, Reinke was senior director of development for Minnetonka-based Haugland Co. He also had stints at Ryan Construction Co. and was the national real estate portfolio manager for American Express Financial Advisors. Reinke is a three-term member of the Oakdale City Council and announced that he will run for the Oakdale mayor's office in this fall's election.
Q: Why did you decide to launch the firm?
A: I thought it was time to do my own thing. I've been around for a little while. I'll work very hard for 10 or 15 more years, but then I want to be able to have other options. I thought now's the time to take all of the stuff that Gene [Haugland, the company's president] has taught me about development and go out on my own.
Q: Talk about your work with IRET.
A: We recently completed a 146-unit luxury apartment complex in Bismarck, N.D., called River Ridge. That was the second project for IRET. The other is 159 units of luxury apartments in Rochester. We're also working on the expansion of the Southdale Medical Building. On the south part of the complex, right off 66th Street, we're going to build a four-story medical office building. We're finalizing some details on design and anticipate starting in the first part of May.
Q: What other projects are you working on?
A: We're providing development management services for a 72,000-square-foot, 50-bed child/adolescent behavioral health hospital in Brooklyn Park. The tenant will be PrairieCare.
Q: How does being a developer give you a different perspective on the Oakdale City Council?
A: I think I get to help my colleagues understand some realities about the development business and truly the risks associated with these developers coming in trying to do something in our community. And then there are also the benefits — these are the people either creating jobs or creating buildings to house existing jobs.
Liz Wolf is an Eagan-based freelance writer. She can be reached at wolfliz99@aol.com.
