Wayzata Bay Redeveloping Company

Wayzata.com, July 15, 2010

As residents of Wayzata have undoubtedly noticed, construction has begun on the Wayzata Bay Center Redevelopment project. The first phase of construction is the reconfiguration of the roadways on both Superior Boulevard and Lake Street from Broadway Avenue going east past the new Superior Boulevard intersection. Presbyterian Homes affiliate, Wayzata Bay Redevelopment Company, will invest over $5 million for the acquisition of the gas station property at Superior and Lake, and the initial phase of public improvements consisting of the new roadway and sewer system upgrades.

The current roadway work will reconfigure Superior Boulevard and a portion of Lake Street and provide both wider, pedestrian friendly sidewalks and extensive median landscaping. Importantly, the work on Superior Boulevard will result in a completely new intersection with Lake Street made safer for both motorists and pedestrians. This intersection improvement has been a long-term objective for both the City and residents. The roadwork is anticipated to be completed by August 1, 2010.

Another benefit of the Superior Boulevard roadwork is that it has created a new location for the popular Wayzata municipal package store and restaurant, popularly referred to as “The Muni.” The new Muni will be built on the west side of Superior Boulevard with an anticipated opening in the spring of 2011.

The next phase of the redevelopment process will be to complete the design and begin construction of the necessary infrastructure for the project. Given the nature of the site as a former wetland, that was filled in the 1960’s for the present Bay Center, and the project’s objective of minimizing environmental impact and maximizing sustainability, infrastructure has been a major challenge for the project’s architects and engineers. The solutions that have been developed not only meet the project goals but also will result in a development that is unique within the Upper Midwest for sustainability and innovation. Key features of the new infrastructure within the 14.5-acre redevelopment area include:

All buildings and most of the roadways will be supported on steel pipe piles driven approximately 120’ deep into the ground. Averaged over the whole site area, the total number of piles will be about 150 per acre.

Most of the steel piles will serve a dual purpose—they serve as foundation structures and also will be part of a geothermal system to tap the ground for heat exchange, shedding heat in the summer and extracting heat in cold months. These “geo-piles” will be augmented by other conventional geothermal measures. It is estimated that there is sufficient geothermal capacity on the site to serve all five of the planned blocks of buildings.

All the streets and sidewalks of the redeveloped Bay Center will have a feature unique in the Twin Cities—an integral heat system that will melt snow and ice. This will create a pleasant all-weather district where sand, mechanical snow removal and the use of corrosive chemicals for melting will not be required.

The most remarkable feature of the new infrastructure design is storm water management. Encouraged by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District from the inception of the planning effort, and working with Wayzata City staff and consultants, most of the redevelopment area will become a “near-zero runoff” district—where 99% of precipitation will be captured, treated and infiltrated into the local ground water. None of these features alone represents a unique design innovation, but taken together in a coordinated plan on a large scale, the Bay Center Redevelopment will set the Twin Cities standard for sustainable, 100-year design. For example, there are many buildings in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest utilizing geothermal energy, however, the Bay Center redevelopment will apply geothermal systems to approximately 800,000 SF of building area. Snow melt systems are not common except to de-ice garage ramps and very limited sidewalk areas—while the new Bay Center will provide snow/ice melting for over three acres of streets and sidewalks in its common areas.

The storm water management system which covers about 68% of the site expects to contain and return to the ground water system over 8.3 million gallons in a normal year—water which today generally flows into storm sewers and into the lake. The redevelopment design has capacity to absorb exceptional rainfall amounts up to a so-called “10-year event,” in which over 1,130,000 gallons would be captured in 24 hours. This will account for 99% of all precipitation that falls within the “near-zero runoff” storm water management district. With three infiltration basins created under the new streets, the site will be able to return more than 742,000 gallons per day to the ground water system. Concrete detention vaults, also located under the internal streets, will provide about 420,000 gallons of temporary storage capacity. The redevelopment will also have about 3 acres of planted areas, including a public park area, which will retain substantial amounts of rain water. About 20% of the site area will drain into the eastern buffer zone in order to preserve wetlands identified in that area. Only about 12% of the site, comprised of wide sidewalks around the perimeter and four street entry ramps, will send rain water into the public storm sewers.

When asked to comment on the start of construction and the infrastructure plans, John Mehrkens, V.P. Development for Presbyterian Homes’ development arm, Senior Housing Partners, stated, “Presbyterian Homes is delighted to have begun the construction process. We’re glad that roadwork should be completed by August 1, which will not only significantly improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow, but will also allow us to begin the necessary infrastructure work. I’m really proud of our architects and engineers who were able to incorporate so many unique environmental and sustainability features into the new design. As a result, the new Bay Center will be a model for sustainable design. In contrast to what occurs today, runoff into Lake Minnetonka from the Bay Center site is virtually eliminated.”

Design work for the large-scale redevelopment continues to advance. Consistent with plans approved by the City in 2008, the project’s five blocks of buildings will include about 255 senior housing units in a new Presbyterian Homes community, approximately 150 condominium homes, a boutique hotel, about 27,000 SF of office space, and approximately 130,000 SF of restaurants and shops. The North Block, which will be the primary building for Presbyterian Homes’ new Wayzata community, has already had its Final Plan design approved by the City.

The Bay Center mall continues to serve the community during this extended transitional period prior to redevelopment—and despite the road construction this summer. Kraemer’s Hardware, The Original Pancake House, Healthy Foods and Healthy Ways, Youngstedt’s Auto Center, Adele’s Frozen Custard, Trio Furniture, and the MUNI are joined by a number of specialty shops including Bob’s Shoe Repair, the Barbers Inn, Anne & Friends Art Market, The Artists Gallery, The Gilded Gypsy interior design, Jason Massie’s Cross Fit personal training, Pete’s Electric Bicycles, WiredIn services from Data Doctor, Charles Cudd model home furniture clearance and Sisi-K original clothing designs. Both The Artists Gallery and Anne & Friends Art Market feature fine art from leading local and regional artists in a variety of media. The Bay Center merchants also participate with other Wayzata stores and restaurants to host the Wayzata Chamber’s Ladies Night Out’ events. For more information on the Wayzata Bay Center Redevelopment, go to www.wayzatabaydevco.com or contact Ed Briesemeister at (763) 245-0962. For more information on Presbyterian Homes & Services senior housing, go to www.preshomes.org or contact Dena Kuenzel, the project-housing counselor at (952) 941-5047.

The Wayzata Bay Center is a client of Wayzata.com Marketing & Media Services.