Application and NarrativeCarlston Developments
REGIONAL DESTINATION,
LIFESTYLE
AND MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT
Powers Boulevard and Lyman Boulevard
APPLICATION FOR
CONCEPT REVIEW
January 16, 2015
INTRODUCTION
On behalf of Carlston Developments, Landform is pleased to submit this application for concept plan
review for a mixed use Regional/Lifestyle Center at the southwest corner of intersection of Powers
Boulevard and Lyman Boulevard.
CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW
Our development team has completed a site analysis and believes we have a mixed use development
concept that is market-ready and consistent with the City’s adopted Comprehensive Plan. We are excited
to provide a concept with potential uses that may include townhomes, apartments, office, medical and
professional services, retail, entertainment and hospitality uses.
We have initiated this concept plan review in order to begin discussions with the City and begin the
update of the AUAR before we get too detailed in our design. The concepts are still at the preliminary
stage, but we have completed a survey, tree survey and wetland delineation to inform our site analysis.
We look forward to getting feedback from the City of Chanhassen on our concepts so that we can
continue to refine our plans and prepare for a formal submittal.
The design team has reviewed a number of City documents before beginning development of our
concept, including:
Chanhassen 2005 AUAR (dated December 8, 2003) prepared for the City by HKGi
The “Chanhassen Retail, Office and Residential Market Analysis and Development Potential”
report (dated June 2006) prepared for the City by McComb Group, Ltd.
The 2007 City Survey
The 2010 City Survey
The 2013 City Survey
The Chanhassen Zoning Ordinance
The Chanhassen Subdivision Ordinance
The 2030 Comprehensive Plan (adopted November 10, 2008)
The proposed mixed-use development will help the City achieve its goals of providing a variety of housing
types for all people in all stages of the life cycle, providing a mixed commercial district with retail and
entertainment uses of a scale and function that serves a regional market, preserving natural resources
through the protection of the Bluff Overlay district, and providing regional shopping options for existing
residents and new residents as anticipated by the Comprehensive Plan. This plan incorporates a mix of
office, retail and residential space in an underserved area of the City.
The project will be designed with one theme, with similar architectural style, similar exterior building
materials, and a coordinated landscaping theme as directed by the Comprehensive Plan. While we have
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not yet defined these details, our submittal package includes an amenity inspiration sheet to give some
idea of the concepts we are currently evaluating.
Market Study
After reviewing the 2006 McComb Group, Ltd, our development team contracted directly with McComb
Group, Ltd to prepare an updated market study. This study was recommended by City staff and it
reinforced the need for this development and the findings support the Regional/Lifestyle Center
anticipated by the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The study showed that this area could support 825,000
square feet to 1,120,000 square feet of new retail/commercial. Key takeaways from the June 2014
McComb study are described by the following executive summary for this site:
Trade area population of 407,361 in 2014, which is expected to increase to 438,533 in
2019, an annual growth rate of 1.49 percent.
Trade area households grew at an annual rate of 1.94 percent between 2000 and 2010.
During a slow growth period caused by the great recession, household growth averaged
1.0 percent annually.
Households are expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 1.5 percent from
157,810 in 2014 to 169,997 in 2019.
The trade area includes Carver and Scott counties, the two fastest growing counties in
Minnesota. Between 2010 and 2013, population in Carver and Scott counties grew at
annual rates of 1.6 and 1.8 percent, respectively.
Trade area average household income of $103,006 in 2014 is 20 percent above the
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA average household income of $85,611 and 41 percent above
the United States average of $72,869.
Trade area median household income of $83,841 in 2014 is 55 percent above the
national median household income of $53,958.
Trade area average household income is expected to increase to $110,603 in 2019,
while median household income is expected to rise to $91,761.
In 2014, 60,100 households (38.1 percent) are estimated to have household income
above $100,000 and is expected to increase to 71,000 (41.8 percent) in 2019. One-
quarter of the households (42,113) are expected to have incomes above $150,000 in
2019.
Families comprise 70 percent of all households in 2014 compared to 64.7 percent in the
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA and 66.6 percent in the United States.
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Trade area population age 25 plus is well educated with 30.4 and 13.1 percent that hold
college and graduate degrees, respectively. This is well above the United States rates of
20.8 and 12.2 percent, respectively.
Trade area population in 2014 is 89.9 percent Caucasian followed by Asian/Pacific
Islander (4.0 percent), African American (2.3 percent), Native American (0.4 percent),
and Other (3.4 percent). Hispanic (any race) is 4.3 percent.
The trade area’s many economic attributes, population, and upper income households
provide support for retail stores, restaurants, and services.
This market study supports the need for this mixed use development on this property and details the
unmet demand in the City. Our project will help the City of Chanhassen capture dollars that are currently
leaving the City and provide services and amenities needed to support the existing and new residential
development in this area.
AUAR (Alternative Urban Areawide Review)
The City completed an AUAR in 2003 that included this site. MN Environmental Rules require that
AUARs be updated every 5 years. It appears that the AUAR has not been updated by the City because
there has been limited development interest in this area. When the City updated the Comprehensive
Plan in 2008, the City identified this property as a significant development opportunity within the City due
in part to the residential development potential in the western portion of the City and the need to provide
regional commercial for Chanhassen residents. While the AUAR was not updated with the
Comprehensive Plan, the City did discuss land use changes from the residential land uses shown in the
2003 AUAR and to the regional/lifestyle mixed use shown in the Comprehensive Plan.
It is our understanding that a different developer approached the City in 2012 to discuss a potential mixed
use development on this site and the City contracted with HKGi, at the developer’s expense, to begin
looking at development scenarios for an AUAR update. While the development did not proceed, and the
AUAR was not updated, there were several development concepts prepared by HGKi for consideration.
We have evaluated these alternatives as part of site analysis. We believe that our concept plan shares
many of the same concepts developed by HKGi and responds to current market realities.
We request that the City initiate an update to the 2003 AUAR to reflect the land use and infrastructure
changes since the AUAR was developed. We believe that the AUAR will reflect the City’s
Comprehensive Plan goals and will support the develop concept we have prepared. We look forward to
working with the City to prepare the AUAR update and incorporating any findings into our development
proposal.
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Design Concept
We have developed a concept plan meets your Comprehensive Plan goals and includes:
54.6 acres of Regional Commercial (approximately 435,000 square feet)
5 acres of Office (approximately 40,000 square feet)
11.4 acres of Regional Commercial/Office Mix (approximately 85,000 square feet)
10.8 acres of High Density Residential (approximately 300 units)
4.9 acres of Medium Density Residential (approximately 55 units)
4.4 acres of Stormwater ponding
15.9 acres of Conservation land
The concept plan shows an east-west road connection between the existing neighborhood and Highway
212 as well as a north-south connection. Internal connections are provided within the development, but
these key connections will provide collector road access through the site. Access points on Lyman
Boulevard have been designed based on County plans. The road alignments may be modified slightly as
we continue to develop the design and determine specific user requirements for this regional destination
center.
Ample landscaping will be incorporated to create an inviting environment. We have worked to preserve
the trees in the buffer area in the southwest portion of the site to provide a buffer between the proposed
development and the existing homes on the south and west. We have also designed a plan that locates
the medium and high density housing in these areas to provide a transition between the existing homes
the planned commercial uses. A comprehensive landscape plan will be developed to supplement the
existing trees and support the design theme throughout the development. We expect different land uses
in the development to have different landscape and architecture details, but many of the core design
concepts will be threaded throughout the development.
The landscaping plans will likely also include private amenities and street furniture that helps activate the
streetscape and enhances the pedestrian experience by providing places to relax, rest, or meet friends.
The streetscapes will be designed to reflect the different street characteristics within the development
from local residential streets to collector streets intended to move traffic through the project.
SUMMARY
We look forward to being part of one of Money Magazine’s Best Place to Live communities! We
respectfully request review of our concept plan for this regional destination, lifestyle and mixed use center
and we request that the City initiate the update of the AUAR. We look forward to Planning Commission
review on February 17, 2015 and City Council review on March 9, 2015.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
This document was prepared by:
Landform
105 South Fifth Street, Suite 513
Minneapolis, MN 55330
Any additional questions regarding this application can be directed to Kendra Lindahl at
klindahl@landform.net or 612.638.0225.
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105 South Fifth Avenue
Suite 513
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Tel: 612-252-9070
Fax: 612-252-9077
www.landform.net
February 4, 2015
Kate Aanenson
City of Chanhassen
1 7700 Market Boulevard
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Re: Quadrant Concept Plan Modification
Dear Ms. Aanenson:
On behalf of my client, Scott Carlston of Level 7 Development, LLC, we are modifying our
application for Concept Plan review.
Our original application included a 40 acre parcel owned by LCR Holdings, LLC. (parcel ID
250230430, 250230420 and 250230410). However, after they signed the application and we
submitted the application, they contacted my client asking us to remove them from this application
and allow them additional time to review their development options.
With this letter we are asking that LCR Holding, LLC be removed from the application and that name
of the applicant be changed from Carlston Development to Level 7 Development, LLC. Scott
Carlston remains the applicant contact and controls the 78 acre parcel (parcel ID 250230500 and
250230300) that we are proposing for development.
We have revised our concept plan to reflect the fact that the LCR Holdings, LLC property is not party
to this application. However, since some access to that property will be through our property, we
have continued to show a concept for how that property could be developed. This type of “ghost
plan” is very typical with developments of this nature.
We continue to ask that the City order an update to the 2005 AUAR (dated December 2003) for this
area. As you know, AUARs are required to be updated every 5 years and this AUAR is overdue for
the update.
The AUAR project area includes an area of approximately 624 acres, much of which has already
been developed. We understand that the AUAR area encompasses far more area that the
regional/lifestyle mixed use area designated in the Comprehensive Plan or the area of our concept
plan application, but we have agreed to fund the cost of the City’s AUAR update. We believe the
AUAR is important for the City to update in compliance with the Minnesota environmental rules and
for us to better understand the development issues for our project.
It is very common for a City to initiate an AUAR for an area that neither they nor a developer own.
We have prepared a concept plan that shows what we believe to be the best use for our property
and the remaining property that we do not control, based on the Comprehensive Plan goals, the
fixed access points and transitions to existing homes. The City certainly has the option to look at
other options for the property.
Landform®, SensiblyGreen® and Site to Finish® are registered service marks of Landform Professional Services, LLC.
We request that the City initiate an update to the 2005 AUAR to reflect the land use and
infrastructure changes since the AUAR was developed. We believe that the AUAR will reflect the
City’s Comprehensive Plan goals and will support the develop concept we have prepared. We look
forward to working with the City to prepare the AUAR update and incorporating any findings into our
development proposal. The AUAR update is overdue and we are committed to funding the update
for the City. We request that the City Council order the AUAR as soon as possible.
We look forward to Planning Commission review of our concept plan on February 17, 2015 and City
Council review on March 9, 2015. We continue to request that the City Council order the AUAR at
that meeting as well. If you are able to prepare a scope of work and cost estimate for us, we would
provide you a check for the escrow so that the AUAR work may begin.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 612.638.0225 or email me at
klindahl@landform.net
Sincerely,
Landform
Kendra Lindahl, AICP
Principal
COPY: Scott Carlston, Level 7 Development, LLC
ENCL: Revised Land Use Plan
Kate Aanenson 2
February 4, 2015