Fridley seeks builder for $40M civic complex

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The city of Fridley is soliciting proposals to oversee construction of an estimated $40 million civic complex, part of an ambitious redevelopment that would also bring housing and public gathering spaces to the former Columbia Arena site.

City officials hope to have a construction manager on board in May, with the goal of starting construction next year and opening the new complex by the end of 2018. The project site is at the southeast corner of University Avenue and 71st Avenue Northeast.

The former Columbia Arena at the site gained fame in the 1990s as a filming location for one of Disney’s “Might Ducks” movies. But the 1960s-era building sat empty in its later years and became a target for new development.

The planned complex would include a 36,000-square-foot municipal center for police and city hall functions, a 75,000-square-foot public works facility, a 14,000-square-foot fire station, and both structured and surface parking, according to the request for proposals.

Community development director Scott Hickok said the project would likely be paid for with bonds issued by the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The housing would be privately developed.

The civic complex would be constructed under the “construction manager at-risk” delivery method, which includes a “guaranteed maximum price” from the CM at-risk and at least 25 separate work packages.

The complex would take up 11 acres of the 33-acre redevelopment site. The site also has room for roughly 650 housing units, including a mix of apartments, senior housing, townhomes and patio homes, Hickok said.

Hickok said the city plans to issue a request for proposals for the housing development by June or early July.

“There’s an incredible amount of interest,” Hickok said. “It’s a very interesting site and it’s beautifully located along Locke Park and Rice Creek. And it’s a centralized place you can get to by bike, by foot and by car.”

Local housing consultant Betty Hardle said it would be a promising setting for townhomes and for-sale senior housing. She wouldn’t be surprised if the central site piques the interest of residential developers.

“Developers are going clear out to St. Michael and Otsego to get nice land,” said Hardle, president of Residential Research Services in Minneapolis. “Why wouldn’t they do it in Fridley?”

The city recently selected Minneapolis-based BKV Group to design the civic complex. Other design finalists were CR-Architecture, HCN Architects, Leo A. Daly Architects, RSP Architects and Wold Architects.

Architectural services are expected to cost 6.4 percent of the total budget, or $2.56 million.

Hickok said the existing city complex, at 6431 University Ave. NE, “grew up over time,” starting with initial construction in the 1940s. The complex includes public works, police, fire and municipal spaces.

A 2014 independent analysis of the complex found “significant deterioration,” cramped spaces, and lack of accessibility, according to the city’s website.

The analysis concluded it would cost $32 million to bring the existing city hall and public works spaces up to speed, not including the cost of moving staff during construction, the city said.

The former Columbia Arena site has long been on the city’s redevelopment radar.

William Fogerty paid $3 million for the vacant building in 2007 but his redevelopment plans never materialized. The city paid $2.6 million for the deteriorating arena in 2014 and demolished it last year.

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