JLL, GSA Market Former Army Property

ARDEN HILLS, MN-The General Services Administration plans to hold an auction by the end of August to dispose of 430 acres of former Army base property to the private sector. The site, a good chunk of the 2,400-acre former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, is being marketed by the GSA as Northern Pointe.

The problem is that the demand is questionable. Last year in May, Ryan Cos. pulled out of a plan to develop more than 580 acres with the city for $45 million, citing problems with pollution clean-up and economic uncertainty, prompting the GSA to go with an auction for the site. Ramsey County and the Minnesota National Guard took more than 150 acres for parkland and other uses, leaving the 430.

On Monday, the City Council voted to limit development on the property to not more than 1,500 units of housing and 2.2 million square feet of commercial development. However, it’s not that the council wouldn’t take more, it’s that the land, formerly used for Army training and small ammunition manufacturing, doesn’t have good enough drive-up access. “The level of development is contingent on planned improvements in infrastructure,” says James Lehnhoff, community development director for the city. The roads leading in to the property aren’t built to handle much traffic, he says.

A buyer would also need to pay for ground contamination, Lehnhoff says, while the government would foot the bill to clean up water pollution on the site. Even Ryan’s plan had allowed some environmental credits, he says.

The director says he’s not sure demand exists for new development, though the area has businesses such as Boston Scientific, Land O’Lakes and Medtronic. “Every market is soft right now,” Lehnhoff says. The local population is about 10,000, “with about 13,000 jobs here,” he says.

Jones Lang LaSalle is helping the GSA market the property. A JLL official could not return a comment in time for this story.