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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 19, 2013 4 <br /> Ms. Worthington explained that the surrounding communities have a deep interest in the <br /> TCAAP project and will be kept apprised of the redevelopment plans. <br /> City Administrator Klaers requested further information on the $35 million bonding bill. <br /> Matt Kramer, President of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, stated that the Chamber is <br /> working to educate the County and business partners to leverage the legislature to gain support on <br /> the bonding for this project. He stated that the redevelopment offered future jobs and tax base <br /> growth, among other things. He explained that by bringing partners together upfront on this <br /> project,the entire community will benefit. <br /> Mayor Grant asked who will be handling correspondence for the TRP. <br /> Ms. Worthington explained that this will be conducted by the Chamber of Commerce as the <br /> Chamber is taking the lead role with TRP. <br /> The Council thanked the representatives for the information presented this evening. <br /> The Council took a five minute recess. <br /> C. Bethel University Discussion <br /> City Planner Streff explained that Bethel University has submitted a letter of intent to purchase <br /> the entire Country Financial property located at 2 Pine Tree Drive. Their objective is to purchase <br /> the building, and as leases expire, to fully occupy the structure within 5 to 15 years. During this <br /> time, Bethel University will slowly expand their higher education uses, including administrative <br /> officers, general and specialized classrooms, meeting rooms and other general educational uses <br /> into the space. As part of their due diligence prior to purchasing the site, Bethel University <br /> intends to apply for a conditional use permit that will allow the entire site to be converted to <br /> educational use. <br /> City Planner Streff commented that the Country Financial property is currently a multi-tenant <br /> building and is approximately 200,000 square feet in size on two tracts of land that total 40.68 <br /> acres. The property is located within the B2 Zoning District, where higher education uses are <br /> allowed by a conditional use permit. <br /> City Planner Streff indicated that in June 2013, the Council approved CUP #13-008 to allow a <br /> higher educational use within the Country Financial building. The approval granted Bethel <br /> University the ability to occupy approximately 26,000 square feet of space in the building, and <br /> required Bethel University to seek City approval for any expansion or intensification of the use. <br /> He noted that representatives from Bethel University are present this evening for comments or <br /> questions. Staff requested that the Council discuss the consolidation of uses and other buildings <br /> used by Bethel University along with the safe connections that could be created between the two <br /> campuses. <br /> Kathleen Nelson, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Bethel University, <br /> thanked the Council for their time this evening. She reviewed the previous request from Bethel <br />