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<br />Developer backs out of deal Pagc 1 of 1 <br /> "'''V ~' . <br />Posted on Wed, Nov. 22, 2006 <br />Developer backs out of deal <br />City restrictions make office park unworkable, he says <br />BY DAVE ORRICK <br />Pioneer Press <br />Just when it all seemed like a done deal, the developer of a controversial office park on land owned by Arden Hills has <br />backed out. <br />Developer Marcel Eibensteiner said the approved plan to build 62,500 square feet of offices on the site of the town's <br />former city hall is too restrictive. <br />"I agonized over this for two months because I've got $105,000 in costs in this project," Eibensteiner, president and <br />owner of Royal Oaks Realty, said Tuesday. "But it was not a viable project any more." <br />As such, the roughly 6-acre parcel at Hamline Avenue and Minnesota 96 will likely go on the market, but officials <br />Tuesday said it was too soon to know when or how they'll solicit proposals. <br />The way Eibensteiner, a friend of outgoing Mayor Bev Aplikowski, got into the deal to buy the land last year was <br />criticized by both political opponents of the mayor and by the state auditor's office. The suburb never publicly advertised <br />the property. Eibensteiner has said he simply got wind of it through his contacts. Aplikowski has said the deal was <br />aboveboard, but she also has acknowledged that advertising the site might have drawn less criticism. <br />Last year, the city was set to approve selling the land to Eibensteiner for $1.4 million, but City Council members rejected . <br />the deal by one vote amid several concerns, including that the then-proposed 73,000 square feet of office space would <br />attract too much traffic. The land was reassessed to be much more valuable, and in July the council approved the sale <br />for nearly $2 million. <br />Eibensteiner scaled back plans and amid the criticism, the city began putting restrictions on the project, including fewer <br />signs, no subleasing and increased landscaping, according to actions taken late this summer. <br />"It was just a multitude of things that just kept going and going and going," Eibensteiner said. "Had they approved my <br />project the first time around, I would have had five businesses in there." <br />Dave Orrick can be reached at c!orrick(a)pioneerpr('ss.com or 651-228-2171. <br /> v"v y..... _.M" <br /> :'. .:!;:.i{l s: jld''! :.li\"h:e," ;':t:~;': ,;,Id W=I;.' :-,', \ H.'(O <;::,n\",'::. .''\il Hit:!;lS 1<~':,,:.T\\.~~l <br /> r,up..:\>.\\\\" ='....in:..iii(.., .....\lm <br /> . <br />h ttp://www.twincitics.com/mld/twinci tics/ncws/locall states/m innesotal counti es/ramsey.c... 11/28/2006 <br />