10 Movers and Shakers - Business Journal
IN DEPTH: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
From the May 21, 2004 print edition
Ten movers and shakers remaking the east metro
Sarah Sturmon Dale
Contributing writer
The east metro market has often been overlooked.
That is changing, according to area developers.
There is a lot of strength in the east metro market that needs to be served and has been underserved for the most part, said Dick Zehring, president of St. Paul-based MSP Commercial.
And the area's anchor -- the city of St. Paul -- is helping fuel that interest with improvements to the city's riverfront that are attractive to both visitors and residents.
While the vacancy rates in downtown St. Paul remain higher than anticipated, Rob Kost, senior associate with Bloomington-based United Properties, said the city is well-positioned to take advantage of the pending economic upturn.
Downtown St. Paul is still as good as it has ever been from an amenity standpoint, he said.
So with the city center prepared to bloom and the suburban area already booming, developers say the east metro is becoming a hot development commodity. With that in mind, we've drawn up a list of influential players in the area's real estate. While not comprehensive, the list is a starting point for what's going on in development east of the Mississippi River.
Kelly Doran, president, Robert Muir Co.
Doran, 46, has been with Edina-based Robert Muir Co. for 13 years. Muir owns Tamarack Village and Woodbury Village, both in Woodbury. The company also is developing Oakdale Village, a 200,000-square-foot retail complex in Oakdale anchored by Best Buy.
The company also recently bought the former Factory Outlet Mall in Woodbury, renamed it Woodbury Commons, and partially demolished the center to make way for a 140,000-square-foot Wal-Mart and 120,000 square feet of other retail space.
Martha Fuller, director of the St. Paul Planning and Economic Development Department
St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly appointed Fuller director of planning and economic development in 2002. Prior to working for Kelly, she served four years as the chief financial officer for St. Paul-based Minnesota Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Minnesota Wild.
Since taking the post, she's focused on meeting the goals of Kelly's Housing 5000 Initiative. Under that initiative, the city has helped create 2,783 units of housing, about 24 percent considered affordable. The effort represents $573 million in total development cost, Fuller said, adding that 80 percent of that was privately funded.
We obviously feel very, very good about that, she said.
In addition to her housing work, Fuller has concentrated on commercial developments in the Phalen Boulevard and University Avenue corridors as well as the city's designated bio-science corridor. She also has worked in conjunction with the University of Minnesota on the creation of the University Enterprise Bio-Science Laboratory at 1000 Westgate Drive, which is scheduled to open later this year.
Ken Johnson, CEO of the St. Paul Port Authority
Johnson, 59, has helped shape development in St. Paul since 1982, when he became director of the housing division of the city's Planning and Economic Development department. He joined the Port Authority in 1990 as its senior vice president and chief operating officer. In 1991, he was named president and CEO.
Under Johnson's leadership, the authority has become a leading economic development tool. It controls 16 business centers on former contaminated sites. Williams Hill, built on an old city dump, is its most successful. The center now houses six businesses and is helping to revitalize the Phalen Boulevard corridor. A second site, Westminster Junction, is in progress.
Rob Kost, senior associate, United Properties
Kost, 46, has worked as a broker in the east metro market for 20 years. Bloomington-based United Properties, a full-service commercial real estate firm, controls more than 1.5 million square feet of industrial space, at least 500,000 square feet of office space and over 500,000 square feet of retail space in the east metro. It also controls more than 1,000 acres of land, either listed for sale or in ownership.
Kost said activity is picking up in the east metro. There is good interest in the remaining land that we have left to develop, he said.
Bob Long, vice president of corporate services and development, Welsh Cos.
Long, 45, is the point man for Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. on the redevelopment of the former Ramsey County Adult Detention Center on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. Welsh is in partnership on the project with Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. and St. Paul-based Metroplains Development Inc. The former three-term member of St. Paul City Council is helping to turn the one-time jail into a $65 million mixed-use development that includes 170 condominiums and 30,000 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant space.
He is also part of the Welsh team that's redeveloping the southeast corner of University Avenue and St. Albans Street in St. Paul into a mixed development of senior co-op housing and 8,000 square feet of retail space. Welsh also controls about 1.9 million square feet of industrial and warehouse space along University Avenue.
Dwight Picha, Woodbury community development director
When Picha, 50, started working for Woodbury, its population was 7,000. Today, it is 53,000. And while it may be one of the metro's fastest-growing cities, Picha has helped the community control its explosive growth by following a planning process that involved citizens and elected officials.
We've staged our growth out so that it is fairly steady, he said.
The staged development has helped guarantee that the community will not succumb too quickly to pressures to urbanize. It also has put Picha in the center of discussions on development throughout the area.
Jerry Trooien, owner, JLT Group Inc.
Trooien, 56, grew up in eastern St. Paul, so the former professional football and hockey player naturally gravitated to the east metro when he launched his development business in 1980. Today, his JLT Group Inc. controls huge parcels of land throughout the area.
His biggest project is The Bridges of St. Paul, a planned mixed-use retail, residential, entertainment complex to be built on 75 acres of land on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul.
Trooien said he expects to present a plan to the city for approval this summer; environmental approval is pending.
But his influence is also being felt in Woodbury. He owns more than 100 acres of land at Interstate 94 and Interstate 494, where he plans to build a mixed-use development that includes a hotel, offices, retail and housing. He also owns two parcels in Woodbury that will be developed into about 82 homes.
Steve Wellington, owner, Wellington Management Inc.
Wellington, 54, has been a factor in east metro development since 1984, when he founded his full- service commercial real-estate development firm in St. Paul. He now controls over 3.1 million square feet of commercial space, mostly in St. Paul and suburbs such as Woodbury and North Oaks.
The area has treated us very well, Wellington said.
Dick Zehring, president of St. Paul-based MSP Commercial
Zehring, 57, left his longtime post at Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. earlier this year to focus on MSP Commercial, a small development company he co-founded in 1997.
MSP's largest project to date is Oakcrest Village, a $35 million 30-acre project in Oakdale near Interstate 94. He also has underway a $5.5 million 30,000-square-foot medical/professional building across the river in Hudson, Wis.; a 10,000-square-foot, $2.5 million medical center in Arden Hills; and a 9,500-square-foot, $2.5 million medical clinic in St. Paul.
While his focus will continue to be on small office buildings, primarily for medical professionals, Zehring is also starting to move into neighborhood retail development.
Sarah Sturmon Dale is based in Chanhassen.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
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