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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION — FEBRUARY 12, 2024 4 <br />Mr. Cattanach said they will build an empty building with loading docks, glass and entrances in. <br />That way the user can customize exactly what they need. There are an infinite number of <br />combinations of R&D, warehouse and office. <br />Mr. Cattanach felt there weren't a lot of groups making big decisions with their office needs <br />unless they have to. Some groups want to get everyone back in the office, others are waiting for <br />another couple of years. The amount of office space going up today without a name attached to it <br />is very small. <br />Mayor Grant asked if the location of Rice Creek Commons makes it more desirable. <br />Mr. Cattanach replied that access was paramount to bringing people to a site and is a <br />competitive advantage. <br />Mr. Roberts said if they were talking about large office users there wasn't a lot of movement <br />there and he didn't see that changing for quite a while. But he thought that demand for smaller <br />office space as a component of manufacturing, or a small office building will always be there. <br />Their rule of thumb has been to have 20% office and 80% warehouse in that type of building. <br />Over the years, the office percentage has increased up to even 30%. Anything past that would <br />more than likely be torn out for the next tenant. <br />Councilmember Monson wondered if the proportionality of the current TCAAP plan was <br />consistent with the demand they were seeing. <br />Mr. Roberts said in regard to retail, online shopping has predominantly affected stores of 40,000 <br />- 90,000 square feet. Larger stores are more immune to it. <br />Mr. Cattanach added that despite the concern of a big box, smaller tenants want to see a traffic <br />driver. He encouraged them to not restrict binary square footage because they may unintentionally <br />inhibit the success of the retail. Having something like an anchor grocer will be a big attraction for <br />businesses, small shop retailers and residents. <br />Councilmember Monson asked if they should take anything else like that into consideration. <br />Mr. Cattanach noted advancement in building technology specifically precast panels with thin <br />set brick. He felt it gives the efficiency of a tight building envelope while it still looks like stacked <br />brick. He felt requiring 30% traditional office in an office/warehouse was limiting as compared to <br />other places that don't have that requirement. He suggested saying no greater than a certain <br />percent can be warehouse instead of requiring office. <br />Mr. Roberts agreed that the focus should be more on a blend of uses and cars in the parking lot <br />instead of office. Office is expensive to build and for tenants to pay for. <br />Councilmember Holden was concerned that with something like a Costco right off the freeway <br />people wouldn't keep driving farther down to see the smaller businesses. <br />Mr. Cattanach replied that when they lay out the site plan, they have a pretty good idea of the <br />flow of traffic, in a lot of cases they orient traffic coming out of the box site to go toward the other <br />