Listen to this articleSartell officials are forging plans for new public, commercial and residential uses on a historically significant former factory site in the city – a project that, albeit on a smaller scale, has been compared to the redevelopment of the Ford plant in St. Paul.
At issue is the Sartell’s Mill District, which housed a paper mill from 1905 to 2012, until a fire forced its closure. A developer acquired the property in 2013 and demolished buildings associated with a 1980s expansion of the mill, as well as older, deteriorating buildings, said Anita Archambeau, a consultant who works for the city on the site.
The city acquired the property in July 2023. The plan is to preserve a remaining, historically significant mill building and integrate it into the renovation plans, which also include new buildings, Archambeau said in an interview.
Earlier this year, the city approved a concept plan and redevelopment strategy for the site, which totals approximately 26 developable acres – 10 in the first phase and 16 in the second. The developable site is located along the river and is roughly bounded by the Second Street South Bridge and Eighth Street Northeast.
The City recently placed a request for the Owners’ Association to lead and manage the second phase of development. The City is accepting proposals until September 24.
Archambeau said the owner’s representative will, among other things, “help facilitate negotiations with a potential future developer of the site” and “act as an arm of the city in promoting the redevelopment of this property.”
The plans include a mix of public and private sector projects. Overlooks, improved bike and pedestrian paths, pedestrian bridges and other public components are part of the first phase, which is currently underway.
As part of the second phase, the city hopes to attract a “major employer or regional entity.” Also on the city’s wish list for phase two are green space with river views, reuse of existing buildings, “flexible space” for an existing hydroelectric plant, outdoor seating areas, taller buildings along the east side, shorter buildings near the river, and “retail, medium to high density residential and office space.”
Archambeau said it’s too early to say how many residential units or how much commercial space would fit on the site. One goal of the owner’s representative is to “help flesh out some of those market study analyses,” she said, adding that the specifics on square footage and usage percentages “will be further detailed in the coming months.”
Sartell has scraped together a number of funding sources to support the public improvements, including a $179,800 grant from the Carbon Reduction Program to design the trail system and $450,000 from Benton County to design and build water and utility extensions on the mill site, city documents show.
Officials in Sartell have compared the plant site’s potential to the former Ford plant site in St. Paul.
At a City Council meeting in June, a council member said he recently traveled to St. Paul and was “overwhelmed” by all the new residential, retail and commercial developments going up on the former Ford site. Ryan Cos. US Inc. is the primary developer of the site, now called Highland Bridge.
“A fraction of what they put in there” would be “astonishing” for the mill site, said council member Tim Elness.
Archambeau said it was an apt comparison.
“I think it’s 100% similar,” she said. “The only difference is that there are probably a lot of opportunities in the greater Twin Cities to facilitate this type of development, but there are very few in central or greater Minnesota, with the exception of Duluth. So I think it really presents an extraordinary opportunity to create a regional hub and a focal point.”
