Selling public property? Say it isn't so

Star Tribune Wed, 14 May 2008 00:16:57 GMT
Edina back to square one after land deal falls through

The city now must look for another solution for housing public works. Edina's decade-long search for a new site for its public works department had appeared to be over in recent months, but now it's back on. A planned land swap would have given public works spacious new quarters while allowing a developer to build a medical office building on the old public works site. But that deal has fallen through. Edina Family Physicians, the main tenant in the proposed medical office development, notified the developer that they "no longer have the commitments" to go ahead with the project. The application for a development plan was withdrawn last week. While the stalled plans create a problem for the city, it is a relief to some Edina residents who had opposed the sale of one of the few pieces of developable public land left in the city. They had lobbied the city to hang on to the 3.5-acre public works site at 5146 Eden Av. as a possible home for a youth center or some other public use. After the city announced that the deal had fallen through, Mayor Jim Hovland said at a council meeting that he wanted to start a dialogue with residents about how the city should handle the sale of public property in the future.

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