Restoring and preserving the environment generates new growth for Minnesota town.

 Founded in 1851 as a trading post, Shakopee, Minn., is located in the heart of the Minnesota River Valley, just 23 miles south of Minneapolis. Like many small towns, Shakopee struggles to preserve its heritage and environment while serving the growing needs of its 33,000 residents and business community. Such is the case with a 273-acre, planned community called Dean Lakes on the south side of the city.

Residents in single-family homes can look across the street to see an attractive gazebo at the entrance to a park in the Dean Lakes mixed-use development.

After more than a century of changing owners, the property was purchased in 2003 by Ryan Companies U.S., Inc., which invested $30 million to preserve numerous environmental amenities and create a thriving mixed-use development for hundreds of new residents, retail shops, professional services, and commercial businesses.

Today, Dean Lakes includes a large area to preserve woods and wetlands, restore native vegetation and habitat, and provide easements for utilities. People who live, shop, and work there enjoy strolls through the conservation area on more than 3 miles of trails that were designed by RLK, Inc., a multi-discipline engineering consulting firm with five offices in Minnesota.

Ryan, one of the largest developers and construction companies in the nation, began looking at the property in 2000. It was the last major portion of a 1,100-acre site owned by Allianz Life Insurance. After thoroughly researching the site, creating a comprehensive plan for a mixed-use development, and getting approval from the city of Shakopee, Ryan closed on the property in March 2004. Construction began soon thereafter.

Focusing on a vision
Ryan brought RLK onboard in the summer of 2000 to provide land planning, civil engineering, and landscape architecture professional services. "We have a long standing relationship with RLK," said Kent Carlson, then vice president of development for Ryan. "We partnered with them on a number of successful projects, so we went right to them for this one."

Dean Lakes was originally zoned for industrial development. However, because of 9/11, the collapse of the dot com industry, and the recession, Ryan and RLK considered other development strategies.

"We looked at the mixed-use concept because a big piece of land like Dean Lakes needs to be put into production within seven to 10 years," Carlson said. "With all the infrastructure costs that go into site development, you can’t afford to carry the property beyond that time frame. The interest expense, real estate taxes, and other associated costs make it impractical to keep it competitively priced over a longer timeframe."

The Plan Unit Development (PUD) put forth by Ryan and RLK allocated 84 acres for conservation and open space, 42 acres for residential use, 44 acres for retail, and 90 acres for a business park. The Shakopee city council, Planning Commission, and nearby property owners were concerned about the plan at first, especially since a previous developer began grading the area without a permit in the late 1990s, removing trees and burning them on site.

Complicating matters, many nearby residents had for years used the site as a park and preferred that the city leave the property untouched or turn it into a park. It took some effort to persuade them to look seriously at a mixed-use development.

"One of the biggest challenges in my mind was to minimize the number of residences they were planning to build out there," said Shakopee Mayor John Schmitt. "It was important to retain that land’s high visibility and appeal to attract employers who will provide high-value jobs that we want in our community. And we’ve pretty well done that."

Research and documentation
The PUD created by Ryan and RLK involved a research and approval process that took about three and half years. The effort included numerous public meetings with the city council, Planning Commission, Park and Recreation Board, Environmental Quality Board, local watershed district, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

RLK re-evaluated the impact of the PUD on the environment and completed all the studies and reports needed to help Ryan secure all necessary approvals. It took more than two years to accomplish this and re-zone Dean Lakes from industrial to mixed use. RLK also worked with the city to amend an Alternative Urban Area Review that was completed in 2003.

In addition, the firm looked at topographical studies to see if any soil correction and earthwork balancing were needed. They learned that construction would be difficult because of rocky soil, shallow bedrock, and a high water table. Also, there were concerns about water migrating away from Dean Lake itself.

Another important area that RLK looked at was infiltration/biofiltration for the stormwater management system. The system they designed complied with the regulatory requirements for tree and wetlands preservation, improved water quality, and enhanced the natural beauty of the area. The stormwater management system makes use of natural ponds and avoids a more costly conventional storm sewer system through the residential area. The plan also reduced the size of a storm sewer needed in the commercial and retail areas, resulting in the city awarding a $1.2 million Stormwater Ponding Fee Credit to Ryan. Additionally, the company earned a $1.1 million Park Dedications Fee Credit for preserving the site’s natural amenities and creating trail corridors.

In addition, RLK provided traffic engineering studies and analysis for access management, signal operations, and traffic control.

Aligning with the vision
An important communications strategy used by RLK in developing Dean Lakes was using large, high-resolution color drawings to show how the site would ultimately appear. David Patten, a landscape architect with RLK, created the drawings, which were displayed at numerous meetings and used as handouts.

Interpretive signs along the walking trails help residents and visitors better understand the natural environment of Dean Lakes.

"The drawings made it easy for people to see where the residential units would be located and how we visualized the design of the retail and commercial areas," Patten said. "People got a much better idea of the size and scope of the conservation area, the open spaces that separated all of these components, and where the trails would be located."

Designing the conservation area was also a major focus for Patten. Besides producing plans and drawings, he did much of the research on the natural components of the area, including the life cycle of stormwater as it is collected and infiltrates through rain gardens back into the environment.

Developing the trail system and interpretive signage resulted in construction of 15 informational pergolas and arbors, all of which were designed by Patten. "We wanted the displays to be fun for children and students, as well as residents and employees at businesses there," he said. One sign explains the conservation easement, while others portray the area’s natural history, including the seven original plant communities that were restored, and indigenous wildlife, such as the leopard frog and painted turtle.

The PUD was approved by Shakopee’s city council in December 2003, and Ryan closed on the property in March 2004. Although there was never any formal partnership between Ryan and the city, Carlson felt a strong cooperative attitude between the two parties. "We all had our opinions and disagreements," he said, "but everyone was very patient, respectful, and approached the project with the same goal in mind, namely creating a viable and thriving mixed-use neighborhood."

In addition to the stormwater system credits, the city provided as much as $1 million in tax abatement to credit special assessments for the business park segment of the development. The abatement is to come from retail development over a 15-year period.

"Their first major retail tenant was Lowe’s," said Michael Leek, Shakopee’s community director. "I heard from plenty of people who were excited to have Lowe’s in the community." Other retailers include Dunn Brothers Coffee, Ruby Tuesday, and Subway restaurants; a Huntington Learning Center; Edina Eye Physicians; and a U.S. Federal Credit Union office. About half of the 295 residential units have been built and occupied, and there is a park with a swimming pool, a large gazebo, and plenty of open spaces for other activities.

"Clearly, Ryan is aggressively marketing the site," Leek continued. "Their first business park tenant was Open Systems, Inc., a software company. While their building is relatively small, it’s that kind of presence that you look for as the first evidence of what’s going into that part of the project." Other commercial tenants include Dean Lakes Health and QLogic, a producer of network storage components.

Looking back on the project, the development industry is really based on relationships. There was a lot of listening and discussions about the goals to be achieved; what the city wanted and what the developer wanted. All this had to be pulled together and trust had to be earned to make this a successful outcome for all parties.

Joe Samuel, P.E., senior professional engineer for RLK, Inc., headed the firm’s team of up to 20 professionals, who worked on the Dean Lakes project. He has played an integral role in the engineering design and project management of numerous commercial, industrial, residential and mixed-use developments. He can be contacted at jsamuel@rlkinc.com.