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Page 3 of 4 The Federal Government intends to sell the property “as is”. The Buyer purchasing the property would be responsible for handling all of the processes associated with the future development of the site (i.e. land use approval, demolition, permitting, etc.). In completing their due diligence prior to the auction, the Applicant has submitted for a high-level concept review in order to present an overview of future development scenarios before making the final decision to bid on this site. For the concept review, the Applicant wishes to engage in a discussion with the Council in order to gauge the City’s perspective of potential future vision(s) for this site. Discussion Existing Conditions The following is the listing description from GSA Auctions: • The 62-acre sale parcel is bounded by the Arden Hills Army Training Site on the north, east and south and the Rice Creek Corridor on the west. The Property contains buildings, roads and specialized infrastructure that supported ammunition manufacturing and testing. Structures include a primer manufacturing facility and earthen berm storage magazines. The improvements, constructed in the 1940s and 1950s, are in various stages of disrepair. The Property has no public street frontage. County Road I is about one quarter mile north. Access to the Property from County Road I will be in the form of an easement. City staff is not aware of the analysis, if any, completed for the potential subdivision of land with regard to road access and/or utilities. The GSA listing does include information that environmental remediation has been completed on the approximate 62 acres to an industrial level. Staff’s understanding is that the deed for the sale of the property will include the land use restriction specifying no residential use. Additionally, for background on this site, Ramsey County in partnership with Xcel Energy in December of 2015 had considered purchasing the Primer Tracer area from the Federal Government. The preliminary concept was for 20+ acres to be developed for an Emergency Management Center and 40+ acres would be a solar array supporting energy initiatives of the Rice Creek Commons site. Due to logistical and economic factors, Xcel Energy informed all parties that they would no longer be considering the Primer Tracer site as a future solar project location. Beyond that, the City has not studied or completed an analysis of potential future uses for this site. In addition, there is no guiding development plan for these 62 +/- acres within the TCAAP area. The Subject Property is zoned Conservation District (CD). The purpose of the CD District is “To provide a "holding" zone for federally owned lands on the Arden Hills Army Training Site to ensure that future development is staged, maintains a sustainable level of public expenditures for utilities and services, and protects those areas generally determined to be unsuitable for development due to the presence of wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes, certain drainage and soil conditions, and critical wildlife habitat.” The City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan has this parcel as well as the areas immediately adjacent to the north, east, and south guided towards PP, Park Preserve. The properties to the west are owned by Ramsey County and are guided towards POS, Park and Open Space as part of the Rice Creek North Regional Trail.