Minnesota River Quadrant: Paving the roads for redevelopment

It's been talked about for years.

A golf course, hotels and shops, a glistening medical technology development, maybe even some condos with river valley views.

Come spring, shovels will actually hit the dirt in the Minnesota River Quadrant as the first infrastructure work on the long road to Burnsville's dream redevelopment gets underway.

Neither the mayor nor anyone else involved in planning the project expects buildings to rise this year or even next. Nevertheless, "This will open up the Minnesota River Quadrant," said Mayor Elizabeth Kautz.

The 1,700-acre redevelopment project, bounded by Hwy. 13, Interstate 35W, the river and the Savage border, covers an area 31 times larger than the Heart of the City -- the last big redo of a Burnsville neighborhood. Most of the land is still in use by local businesses, much of it industrial, including the quarry and a dump.

But after years of talking about land use and seeking a special tax district designation from the Legislature, Kautz said, "Now we're ready to get it built."

The biggest project on the calendar for 2012 is the remake of the intersection of County Road 5 and Hwy. 13. That $40 million effort will remove the stoplights at the congestion-plagued and crash-prone crossing by digging the highway under a new county bridge.

"That's a great idea and I'm really glad that staff came up with it," said Council Member Dan Kealey. "This is a good thing for the city. It's a good thing to the property owners."

The city also is mulling improvements to 126th Street, which cuts through the southern portion of the redevelopment area, and the interchange at I-35W and Cliff Road, which will see more traffic when a Wal-Mart opens nearby next year.

"We have to have good roads down there to really spur this development," Council Member Mary Sherry said.

Discussions also have been percolating about what else the city needs to do to propel the Minnesota River Quadrant toward fruition. The Urban Land Institute led a workshop with Burnsville City Council and its advisory commissions this fall, focused on economic realities and realistic expectations.

Developers and planners, including John Shardlow of Bonestroo, laid out for the council the attractive features of the quadrant -- the proximity to a major highway and the riverfront among them -- but also cautioned that there are many cities with sites and redevelopment dreams stalled by the economy. He said those who see construction pick up will have prepped the land, forged partnerships with businesses and developers, and done something to stand out.

To that end, the city's planning and economic development commissions this winter are reexamining zoning decisions and desired uses for the land and different incentive policies for businesses.

Ideally, the city sees the southern portion of the quadrant developing first, based on the willingness of the businesses currently there. The northern portion, where the quarry and landfill dominate the landscape, may be decades away from change. Without growth in the broader metro region, there's less demand for aggregate produced by the quarry, and less garbage flows into the landfill, meaning it will be longer before those operations' resources are exhausted.

But for Kautz, who's been mulling the Minnesota River Quadrant since before she was mayor, the opportunity to shape Burnsville's largest remaining redevelopment must be seized.

"This is one of the things we have to get done," Kautz said.