Residents of Shakopee could be in for a swath of new residential and commercial buildings in the southeastern part of the city, as Rachel Development has proposed a development that will encompass 146 acres of what has been a sand and gravel pit for years.
The development, which is at the southwest corner of Mystic Lake Drive and 17th Avenue East, will be split into two phases of development over six years, consisting of potentially 534 apartment units, 98 townhomes, 223 single-family homes, as well as 174,300 square feet of mixed-use commercial sites. Twenty-four acres will be reserved for open space.
Also housed on the property will be a 97,000-square-foot water treatment plant that will be owned and operated by the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission.
An environmental assessment worksheet was released Tuesday for the site for public comment, lasting until May 23.
David Stradtman, the vice president of development for Rachel Development, said Rachel is excited about the development.
“It’ll be a really nice project when it all comes together and be really nice in the city of Shakopee,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of public amenity there and there’ll be a lot of good services.”
The project has been in the works for a year now, Stradtman said, though the city has been considering ways to redevelop the gravel pit for some time. Shakopee Director of Planning and Development Michael Kerski said that before a TIF district could be created by the city, the Legislature had to approve it first because it is a gravel pit.
Before going ahead with plans, Stradtman said the developer contracted with Braun Intertec to do geotechnical engineering tests to make sure the site was buildable.
“We’ve probably done 50 soil borings and 35 tests throughout the stie to determine the soil conditions and everything is in order in order to develop it,” he said. “You have to excavate it all and recompact everything to make sure everything is buildable. That’s just a massive project.”
Before anything can be done on the site, the project will undergo five votes from the City Council and the Planning Commission, Kerski said in an interview with Finance & Commerce. The EAW will need to be approved by the City Council, then the Planning Commission and the City Council will both take votes to create a tax increment financing district for the area, and to approve a planned unit development.
Stradtman said Rachel will be submitting its formal application at the end of June, holding a neighborhood meeting toward the end of July and having the council meeting on the TIF and PUD in August.
“We would acquire the site later in the year,” he said. Most of 2025 would be grading work on the site.
The two phases of the project, according to the EAW, will take place upon the reclamation of the site. The first phase will consist of the construction of commercial element and attached residential units and will take place from years one to three. The second phase will take place over years four to six and be the construction of the single-family residential areas. The project is estimated to be completed by 2030.
Kerski said the project is expected to cost $350 million.
In terms of what the city would like to see occupy the commercial space on the development, Kerski said a grocery store is “first priority.”
“We’ve been looking to add potentially a grocery store and other commercial uses that would serve not only that area, but there’s a new subdivision right behind it,” Kerski said.
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