06-06-16 JDA - Laserfiche WebLink

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discussed the difficulty of developing Town Centers, but believed there was a solution to make this work and for it to be done well. He believed the project would have to be developed around the Town Center in order for people to be drawn to this area. He stated the space would have to feel both common and central in order to be authentic. Tony Barranco discussed corporate offices and how these would fit on Rice Creek Commons. He provided comment on several corporate campus projects he had been involved in. He indicated one of the most important features on corporate campuses was properly programming the space. Casey Hankinson explained how the JDA can be confident that Ryan and Lennar is the right team. He stated Ryan has 67 years of experience. He believed his company was a specialist and not a generalist. He indicated there was a true sense of team at Ryan Corp. He reported Lennar had 145 years of experience. He realized this project was not about Ryan or Lennar but rather about the end user and building communities. He commented the Lennar team has been the number one homebuilder in the State of Minnesota for the past 10 years. He discussed the long history Lennar and Ryan had with the metro area. Mr. Barr stated both Ryan and Lennar could work with the redevelopment code. He believed the TRC tied into the Master Plan and the densities that the market would support for the site. He commented on the development market cycles and believed now was the time to build aggressively on this site. He stated there was a chance that some portions of the plan may need to be tweaked to meet the market demand. Mr. Barr discussed his access to capital. He reported Lennar was a $9.5 billion national company that would be able to internally fund their projects. This would make projects move along more quickly. He then commented on the equity available to Ryan Company. He stated he has run a dozen different economic models with a range of densities. Most of the models showed no requirement for incentives. However, a couple models did. His opinion was that public incentives would not be necessary, unless an extraordinary amenity was wanted by the community. Mr. Schoening thanked the JDA for their time and asked if there were any questions or comments. Commissioner Huffman asked if Lennar was the number one builder based on volume or satisfaction. Mr. Schoening explained this classification was based on the Builders Association in the Twin Cities and was based on revenue. Commissioner Huffman questioned if each housing plan had different floor plans.