by Dennis Dalman
On Jan. 13, the Sartell City Council is expected to approve a contract agreement with a team of consultants that will help develop the “Mill District” area in the city.
That is the huge vacant site beside the river where the former Sartell paper mill did business for 105 years until a 2012 explosion-and-fire killed one employee and caused the historic mill to close permanently ending the 450 jobs there.
At the Dec. 9 city-council meeting, the upcoming contract with consultants was discussed by council members, city staff and others, principally Jeffrey LaFavre, the president and senior advisor for IAG Commercial Real Estate Brokerage, Minneapolis. That is the firm that will work for the city to get the Mill District development project up and going. There will also be two other consulting firms as subcontractors working with IAG Commercial and, indirectly, for the city. They are a Minnesota corporation called I & S Group Inc. and Thrive Consulting LLC, a Minnesota limited liability corporation.
The Mill District project is now in its second phase during which site preparations and plans for development will begin to be implemented, with help and guidance from the consultants.
Previously, about two years ago, another consultant was hired to determine the possibilities for the mill site and to draw up a phased-in plan for development and to help get public input from city residents on what they would like to see placed at the site. That consultant, Anita Archambeau, who lives and works in Illinois, was Sartell’s city community director for 20 years.
Why consultants?
Archambeau, council members and staff decided earlier this year the technical expertise of consultants would be vital for the Mill District project to succeed.
There are many reasons for that, including environmental studies that must be done, enormous coordination efforts for the many facets of the project and recruitment of tenants who would fit right in on that site according to what residents have expressed they want. And what they want is a mixed-use development that would include shops, some residential properties such as townhomes and/or family apartments, recreational uses at the river, lots of greenery, trails and historical markers, among other wants.
The IAG team and subcontracted consultants will be able to seek out and line up all of those factors so the development is balanced and harmonious before the building even begins.
The Sartell City Council would have to approve any developments at the site proposed by the consultant team.
In the contract, the IAG team is called the “Mill District Owner’s Representative.” The service will cost the city $135,200 to be paid in installments of $10,400 monthly during the 13-month length of the agreement. Once the project is completed, significant tax income to the city is expected that would more than offset the costs of the consultants’ work.
In the contract already drawn up, it states the following:
“The Owner’s Representative role emerged as essential to managing this transformation, particularly considering the site’s environmental complexities from (more than) a century of industrial use and the technical challenges of riverfront development along the Mississippi River.
“An Owner’s Representative can serve as a dedicated point of contact, ensuring consistent communication and coordinated decision-making. This professional management helps prevent miscommunication and maintains project momentum.”
It also points out the contracted work would bring about public-private partnerships and complex stakeholder management.
“The selection of an Owner’s Representative,” states the contract, “will provide the technical expertise and strategic oversight necessary to shepherd this transformative project through its next critical phase.”
According to the International Economic Development Council, successful industrial site conversions typically require five-to-seven years from conception to completion. However, those that were shepherded by dedicated Owner’s Representatives from the outset were done quicker, with fewer delays and maintained budgets compared to cost over-runs in projects attempted without the help of consultant experts.
This is a partial view of the Mill District site in Sartell after all of the ruined remnants of a previous paper mill were removed from the site.
Jeffrey LaFavre, president and senior consultant for IAG Commercial Real Estate Brokerage.
