Development stalls — again — on the long-vacant Army ammunition site in Arden Hills

Redevelopment in the Twin Cities metro area has brought forth a brand new neighborhood at the former site of the Ford Plant and opened new possibilities at projects like the Heights on St. Paul’s East Side, which could see its first tenants this fall.

Yet one prominent parcel still sits dormant: the former home of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant.

Hyped for its close connection to highways and its promise of bringing fresh economic vitality to Arden Hills, the site now called Rice Creek Commons has become more synonymous with delays than dealmaking after lawsuits and competing visions have jammed up plans. Most recently, the board overseeing the project decided in June that progress was too slow and parted ways with the developer, who has now filed a lawsuit contesting the split.

For longtime observers, the newest delay adds to the dispiriting evidence that this 427-acre tract north of St. Paul is, for at least a few more years, doomed to remain the metro’s largest vacant lot, strewn with weeds and intentions.

“My fear is that this isn’t going to get done for another 10 years,” said Tom Fabel, a former Arden Hills City Council member.

Fabel said he was “deeply disappointed” by the joint development authority’s recent decision to part ways with Bob Lux and Alatus, partners on the project since 2016.

The problem now, according to Fabel, is that additional risks could arise, from the cost of labor and materials to the possibility that anti-development candidates could win seats on the Arden Hills City Council and alter the city’s posture on the project.

It’s also not yet clear how the Rice Creek Commons sustainability goals could be set back by federal legislation approved this month that aims to claw back climate change investments approved during the Biden administration.

Officials from Ramsey County and Arden Hills who sit on the joint development authority say they will consider how to choose a new partner in August.

“What role does a developer play?” Board Member Tena Monson asked rhetorically, listing some discussion points she’d like to see at the Aug. 4 meeting. “What’s the developer landscape anymore? Do we really need one?”

Meanwhile, Lux has argued in a lawsuit against the joint development authority that he has invested time and money into the project that can’t be easily dismissed.

“If they want to get it done, they should just try to figure out how to do it with us and get it done,” he said.

The project has been beset by delay before, including a dispute between Arden Hills and Ramsey County over housing.

Arden Hills City Council members serving on the board wanted 1,460 housing units, of which 10% would be deemed affordable, but county officials pushed for more units overall and more affordable housing.

The matter went to court in 2019 when Ramsey County, which had invested some $40 million to purchase and clean the former Superfund site, sued the city and attempted to break up the joint board that gives Arden Hills substantial say in how the site is developed. The suit said intractable disputes over financing, density and affordable housing made the board, first formed in 2012, unworkable.

A judge eventually ruled in the city’s favor, saying the joint development authority should remain in place until its scheduled termination in 2038.

Fabel, a retired judge, and Monson, a renewable energy developer, successfully ran for Arden Hills City Council in 2022, allowing them to change the makeup of the joint development authority and restart talks with the county.

What the project needs more than ever is consensus, said Chris Coleman, the executive director of St. Paul Habitat for Humanity, which is working on the Heights project on the East Side.

Coleman said he hopes Habitat can someday build houses at Rice Creek Commons, too.

“This has been a really, really contested site for a long time,” he said, pointing to the pushback against affordable housing amid an already challenging project. “These are really difficult deals to put together.”

Construction started at the Heights about a year ago, with Habitat building 38 housing units. The units are all electric, with solar panels and heat pump appliances, features that could help the project attain a platinum-level LEED certification.

“My hope is that people just persist, because I think it’s an incredible opportunity,” Coleman said about Rice Creek Commons.

Arden Hills City Council Member Kurt Weber, who is part of the joint development authority, said he’s heard the concerns about delays.

“The most important thing to point out is that really the plan for this development hasn’t changed,” he said.

It still calls for up to 1,960 units of housing with parks and trails, retail and office space along with ambitious sustainability guidelines similar to those at the Heights.

He also dismissed the idea that those guidelines — which call for efficient houses, geothermal, solar panels and restrictions on the use of fossil fuels — are causing delays.

He pointed to conversations with Ryan Cos. over the development of an office building on land adjacent to the main parcel at Rice Creek Commons. Those plans included stringent sustainability measures, too, and when Ryan was asked whether the guidelines pose any kind of roadblock, “we didn’t get that impression from them,” said Weber.

The board has developed scenarios for developer solicitation that show they want to move forward, Weber said, though “I can’t speculate on the route or the method we’re going to take.”