Local developer Jesse Hartung was riding a wave of support for his proposed $45 million mixed-use riverfront development in Otsego, so he was more than a little surprised when the City Council voted down his plans for the project Monday night.
Despite positive reviews from the Planning Commission and city staff, the council denied the developer’s request for a preliminary plat and other approvals related to the project, which would have brought 150 market-rate apartments, retail, office, dining options, and future Mississippi River docks to a 13.8-acre site at Highway 101 and 90 th Street.
Hartung, president of Elk River-based Modern Construction of Minnesota , envisions the Otsego Waterfront project as an amenity-laden, local and regional destination. The developer hoped to start pushing dirt as soon as spring 2025. Tuesday morning, Hartung was reevaluating his options.
“I’m certainly disappointed,” Hartung said in an interview Tuesday. “We had a 7-0 vote in favor from the planning commission. I was shocked [at the council’s decision].”
The City Council denied the project “based on the height of the building, inadequate parking, and floor area of the apartments not complying with the requirements of the zoning ordinance,” according to Daniel Licht, an Otsego city planner.
Mayor Jessica Stockamp said Tuesday that the council’s vote was unanimous.
Parking and the building’s height were concerns, along with the “square footage of the apartments not meeting what our standards are,” she said. A city report reveals that the proposed floor area, in some cases, is up to 55 square feet less than the 700 square feet required by the zoning ordinance.
To satisfy the parking ordinance, the development would need 483 parking spaces, according to the staff report. The developer proposed 450. Hartung said a parking study showed that 429 spaces would be adequate for the proposed uses. He describes the site as “essentially swamp land,” which rules out the option of building underground parking.
As for the building’s height, Hartung said he already made some adjustments to get closer to the city’s desires and stepped down the height to make the massing more attractive.
What’s more, Hartung said, he would need to eliminate one or two floors to meet the height requirements. That would come at the cost of signature amenities, such as a rooftop deck and observation area, he said.
“We could bastardize the project and bring something to the community that's a little more generic and a little more like everything else you see, but that's not what we want. How does that benefit the community?” said Hartung, who is working with Bauer Design Build of Plymouth on the project.
Big-picture-wise, Hartung said the development would increase the city’s tax base and bring new dining options including another location for his own Tipsy Chicken eatery to the riverfront.
Modern Construction of Minnesota has invested “well over half a million dollars” in project costs, including market studies, traffic studies, parking studies, geotechnical and drilling work, Hartung said.
Despite the setback, Hartung isn’t ready to give up on his plans. The developer said he would like to get more feedback from the community and “let their voices be heard” before bringing a revised plan back to the council.
“We’ll make it happen,” he said. “I have faith that we can work with the City Council to find some common ground.”
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