May 12th, 2005

NORTHFIELD — Preliminary plans for the Riverfront Redevelopment site were met with a series of positive comments Tuesday night at

Northfield’s Design Advisory Board meeting.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first time the plans had been presented in a public forum.

The DAB heard from John Mathern, the project developer from Mendota Homes; Bill Sanders, landscape architect and president of Sanders, Wacker, Bergly Inc.; and Lee Seppings, architecture principal from Collaborative Design Groups.

The Design Advisory Board was asked to review and provide design advice to city staff and to Mendota Homes, the project developer.

Preliminary drawings reveal a set-up of seven buildings — five that are commercial and two condominium-type structures.

The commercial buildings, which in some ways provide an anchor and a gateway to the site, border Highway 3.

The condominiums are placed along the river, with space left for a public walkway.

To achieve their vision for the site, Seppings and Sanders told DAB members that they are using guidelines that have been set up by the city’s DAB, as well as the city’s Historical Preservation Commission.

Although some of the architectural detailing is yet to be finalized, Seppings said the design will be “guided by the downtown” by “pulling a selection of items we feel are more appropriate in this site.”

In addition, architects are “waiting to merge our plans with the city’s plan for streetscape items,”Sanders said.

Currently, the city is working on developing a streetscape plan — a road map and guidelines for unifying existing downtown elements and planning for the future.

Seppings hopes that the architectural design of the Riverfront project will recognize the downtown, but also acknowledge that this is a new development and become “another layer of history” for Northfield.
Members of the DAB were enthusiastic about the redevelopment plans.

John Colling said he appreciated how the site included more of a four-sided design — developing the parcel of land as a whole, not just the riverfront side or the Highway 3 side.

“I think it’s … great that you’re listening to us and getting the ideas of what we want,” Colling said. “What you are selling here is very sensitive to what we want.”

Michael Budd, chairman of the DAB, agreed and recommended that the DAB support the recommended site plan.

“I have a sense that the project is going in the perfect direction that I believe the city wants to go,” Budd said.

Site plans will go before the city’s Economic Development Authority Thursday.

Public meetings to view the plans also are scheduled for next week.

Mathern said he hopes that construction on the first condominium building will begin in September.

And although a final contract has yet to be reached, a purchase agreement was struck Monday between Mendota Homes and the local owners of the Legacy Motel, Mathern said, a property that sits adjacent to the Riverfront site.

Due to the construction of Highway 3, other parcels of the Riverfront site may have to wait until 2007 to be started, he said.

– Michelle Kubitz

Reprinted with permission from the Northfield News.