Anoka updates development VOA agreement for new senior housing campus
by Mandy Moran Froemming
Union editor
The city of Anoka has made changes to a development agreement it hopes to have approved with the Volunteers of America on a new senior housing campus planned north of the Northstar Commuter Rail Station.
The Homestead at Anoka is a continuum of care senior campus that includes a skilled nursing facility, congregate living and memory care.
“We did this back in January, but that draft was not fully executed,” said Bob Kirchner, Anoka community development director.
At that time, the Anoka City Council had given the green light to an agreement for The Homestead at Anoka, which is a phased plan for a continuum of care campus. The VOA proposes a 221-unit development made up of a 120-bed skilled nursing facility and 58 congregate living units in the first phase, along with 43 congregate memory care units in phase two.
The city has spent most of the past decade working with the VOA to find a location for the new campus and also brokered a land swap with Anoka County in order to assemble the nearly 15 acres needed for the project.
According to Kirchner, the VOA wanted to pin down a number for the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) before it signed off on the development agreement.
If approved, the nursing home portion of the facility will likely be tax exempt under state law, since the VOA is operated as a non-profit.
But the organization is agreeing to pay the city $29,760 a year in lieu of taxes to help offset the costs of city services.
“We took the plan the council approved and the city assessor reviewed the project and identified the market value for the 120-bed nursing home part of the development,” said Kirchner. “Then we ran the formula for taxes based on current rates. This number approximates 50 percent of the city’s share.”
Because of the delay in getting the development agreement finalized, the construction start and completion dates have also been pushed back 60 days, according to Kirchner.
Construction now must start by Sept. 1 and phase one must be completed by Sept. 1, 2013.
Mayor Phil Rice asked if the project might get under way earlier than the official Sept. 1 date.
Project Manager Bob Van Slyke of Essential Decisions said the delay would come from the difficult financing market for the sale of tax exempt bonds, required to finance the project.
“We’re on board, we’re on track – that’s the biggest piece right now,” said VanSlyke.
A general contractor has been selected for the project.
“If we could sell the bonds and get everything done we would rather start sooner than later,” said VanSlyke.
Rice said the city is lucky to have this kind of development in its future.
“We’re looking forward to some shovels in the ground and some bricks going up,” said Rice.
The agreement was unanimously approved by the council, although Councilmember Steve Schmidt did abstain from the discussion and the vote. Schmidt owns property in the area of the site for The Homestead at Anoka.
Kirchner did say the council may also need to revise a previously approved purchase agreement at a future meeting to adjust the closing dates that had been set.
The VOA plans to purchase the property it needs from the city in two phases, the first 7.8-acre parcel by April 1 at a price of nearly $1.4 million. The VOA then has the option to purchase a remaining 3.8 acres for phase two in the next five years.
Mandy Moran Froemming is at editor.anokaunion@ecm-inc.com
