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To: Arden Hills Planning Department Bolton & Menk Arden Hills City Council CC: Mike Mrolsa From: Dan Regan – Principal of Launch Properties, LLC Bruce Carlson – Senior Vice President of Launch Properties, LLC Michael Lund – Director of Development Launch Properties, LLC Daniel Terwilliger – Director of Development Launch Properties, LLC Re: City Council Workshop Submittal 3737 Lexington Avenue North Redevelopment Arden Hills, MN Date: March 15, 2021 Dear members of Arden Hills City Council, Planning Commission and Planning Department, It is with great enthusiasm that Launch Properties present our proposal for the redevelopment of the property located at 3737 Lexington Avenue in Arden Hills. Launch Properties, an experienced local developer, is very excited about our partnership with Aldi as we bring forward a top-tier, signature retail project to the Arden Hills community. Aldi, with just over 50 Twin City metro area locations ( and over 2,000 stores nation- wide) has yet to serve the residents of Arden Hills. Currently, residents of Arden Hills must travel to Circle Pines, Mounds View, Roseville or beyond to benefit from the brands, products and pricing that has been so valuable to so many in the Twin City metro area and beyond. However, this unique opportunity changes all that! Launch Properties in association with Aldi proposes to take the best qualities of other high-profile retail projects in the Twin Cities, and implement those best practices and qualities at 3737 Lexington Avenue. As developers, we have an obligation to follow, with great interest, the new development activity happening in Arden Hills and neighboring markets. Consequently, we recognize the grocery offering in the Lexington Avenue corridor is strong, dynamic, and varied. With that in mind, we feel strongly that the City of Arden Hills is missing a critical grocer in their community. Whil e not everyone seeks value, anyone who does, is an Aldi customer. It’s a hard truth to reckon, but the COVID-19 virus in 2020 severely adversely affected and even bankrupted many businesses, leaving many dedicated employees without jobs. This hard hit affected people in all sectors, leaving many families in economic hardship. COVID-19 also affected growth with regional and national retail. Many retailers put a ‘pause’ on new growth all together. To make matters worse, last Summer’s tragedy - the death of George Floyd, and the destructive civil unrest that followed – was a wake-up call for our community, state, and nation to confront hard truths about the social disparities that exist within our communities. Locally, retailers both large and small, across all sectors were left in disarray. Many companies and businesses turned a blind eye to future growth and expansion plans in Minnesota specifically. While Aldi’s stores across the state were damaged in the aftermath of civil unrest, the company was one of the first to re-commit to those damaged neighborhoods and rebuild for Minnesota’s communities. The speed at which they did so was staggering, out-performing even hometown locals such as Target. Matt Lilla, Aldi Faribault division vice president was quoted saying: "The entire Minneapolis community has been impacted, and it’s encouraging to see how quickly we’ve come together to rebuild. We are honored to serve this strong community, and we look forward to welcoming shoppers back and providing them with fresh and affordable groceries once again."