May 14th, 2005

NORTHFIELD — The team assembled by Mendota Homes for its vision of the Riverfront Redevelopment site fielded questions Thursday in a meeting held by the Northfield City Council and its Economic Development Authority.

It’s been a year since John Mathern, the project’s developer, came down to Northfield to look at the Kump Lumber site.

Since then, he’s secured the lumber site, the Lubbers property and recently acquired the Legacy Motel.

“Next week we will start the demolition of Tom Thumb and move through the Legacy Motel shortly thereafter,” Mathern said.

Mathern also has reached a preliminary development agreement with the city of Northfield which, along with the EDA, owns the majority of the redevelopment site.

Mathern has until the end of May to submit preliminary site plans, financing plans, marketing strategies and other paperwork to the city, which would open the door for Mathern to be the sole developer on the site.

Also, as part of that preliminary agreement, Mathern and his team need to meet a series of goals and design expectations, ranging from environmental sensitivity to adequate parking, that were voiced by the public.

On Tuesday, before the city’s Design Advisory Board, Mathern indicated his plan to roll out the preliminary details to a handful of the city’s boards- and in public meetings prior to the May 31 deadline.

The questions voiced at Thursday’s meeting, which drew a large crowd considering its start time of 7:30 a.m., ranged from how garbage would be handled in residential and retail spaces and whether semis would be able to maneuver to the retail area of the development.

One of the biggest concerns brought up by councilors and EDA members was potential flooding.

The site plan does not indicate any construction of a flood wall between the river and the Riverwalk which will be extending from the city’s downtown.

Brian O’Connell, the city’s community development director, said the city had checked with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources early on in the project about treating the riverbank.

The DNR “would not even entertain” the concept of building some type of an urban wall to stem flooding “south of Second Street,” he said.

“The river’s edge is a historical feature,” said Lee Seppings, principal architect from Collaborative Design Groups. “… (It’s) an environmental feature we want to be sensitive to and respect.”

Preliminary site plans

The preliminary site plan calls for five retail spaces — two of which will serve as anchors on the western corners of the site — and two condominium spaces.
With 53 units a piece, the condominiums are adjacent to the Cannon River and will range in price from the mid-$100,000 to the mid-$400,000 range.

In designing the architecture of these buildings, Seppings is using elements from Northfield’s downtown to create “another layer of history and a way to work as a continuous thread from the downtown.”

City Councilor Jim Pokorney spoke in favor of the preliminary design.

“I really like the plan, but what really struck me … it’s up to us to give you guidance on design criteria on what we’re doing in the downtown now,” he said.

The city is currently working on a streetscape plan which will inventory the current features of the city’s downtown and help the city plan for future improvements. Seppings has indicated the design team will work with the city to coordinate the development’s details with the streetscape plan.

– Michelle Kubitz

Reprinted with permission from the Northfield News.