Dear businesses: Rosemount is ready for you

Talk about it

A site within Rosemount is one of the first in the state to be certified Shovel Ready by the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The site, south of the city’s business park on Boulder Avenue, will be promoted by DEED because of the certification.

Sites in Brainerd and Dayton also received certification. Shovel-ready refers to commercial and industrial sites that have completed all of the planning, zoning, surveys, title work, environmental studies, soil analysis and public infrastructure engineering prior to offering the site for sale, according to a news release from DEED. The sites also must be under the legal control of a community or in partnership with a third party.

“Companies do not have the luxury of spending several months on a site search because global economic forces are motivating them to make market decisions fast,” said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy. “These cities have invested in this lean, yet rigorous process that significantly reduces time and money for companies that wish to grow in Minnesota.”

Rosemount has worked with Ryan Companies to get the 52-acre site ready. The site can be built to suit for light industrial, office showroom, warehousing and assembly uses

Community development director Kim Lindquist said the program is the latest in a series of projects to get the city as ready as possible for when the real estate market changes. She said making the property shovel ready means that when a buyer approaches the city will have the ability to move forward quickly.

Lindquist said Rosemount has a lot of land open for development and this is a way to help make people aware of it.

City staff also has been investigating other ways to market the city better to companies looking to build including joining Positively MN, which provides resources and information on marketing.

Lindquist presented the information to the port authority Tuesday. The members seemed generally pleased about the certification and steps the city staff is taking to promote the city’s future growth.

“It keeps us out in the forefront,” said commission chair Jay Tentinger.

Tags: local news, news, rosemount, development