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<br /> <br /> <br />City Council 2013-04-24 6:56 p.m. <br />Minutes of Work Session <br /> <br />Present were Mayor Tom Wilharber, Council Members D Love, Jeff Paar, Steve King, <br />and Ben Fehrenbacher. Also present were City Attorney Kurt Glaser and City Engineer <br />Mark Statz. <br /> <br />Bill Beard of Beard Group was present to discuss the Downtown Redevelopment Plan. <br />He reported that the housing market is improving throughout the metro area, however the <br />slowest recovery is in the northeast portion of the Twin Cities area. Residential rental <br />market is doing pretty well with a very low 2% vacancy rate. He indicated that the type of <br />housing that is being constructed is changing to meet a market that is demanding a <br />different type of unit than what has been constructed in recent years. The “Boom <br />generation” and the Gen-Y group are fueling a demand for rental units. The townhome <br />market is over-supplied, but single family detached homes are still being built, but in <br />lesser quantities than prior to the recession. Some communities in the area are running <br />short of available building lots, while in other communities, the demand is very light. He <br />noted that communities are reducing the amount of anticipated commercial space in <br />redevelopment areas, and those commercial spaces are often focused on hospitality <br />business. Mr. Beard suggested that the city may wish to invite the Urban Land Institute to <br />come for a presentation. <br /> <br />Mr. Beard was asked whether the City-owned land in Block 7 could be an immediate <br />opportunity for some type of project. He will visit with his associates and offer some <br />suggestions. <br /> <br />After all questions were asked and answered, the work session was adjourned at <br />approximately 7:30 p.m. <br /> <br />Dallas Larson, Administrator <br /> <br /> <br />