Council continues review of Thomson Reuters redevelopment; Ryan Companies seeks approval for large logistics building and housing

The Eagan City Council continued consideration of a comprehensive plan amendment, preliminary plan development and preliminary subdivision for the proposed redevelopment of the former Thomson Reuters campus after a lengthy staff presentation and applicant briefing.

Ryan Companies seeks to redevelop most of the 179‑acre campus with a mix of light industrial (including a large advanced logistics building called Project NOVA), townhomes, low‑ and medium‑density residential lots and parkland. The council unanimously agreed to postpone final action to the Nov. 19 meeting so the Metropolitan Council can conclude its review of the requested land‑use amendment.

City planner Schultz summarized recent changes: the applicant reduced the single‑family footprint (from roughly 25 lots to seven), added a roughly 9.9‑acre park dedication (Outlot F), created a 6.6‑acre conservation easement around a high‑quality wetland and preserved nearly 300 trees within the park dedication area. "The revised development plans also significantly reduce tree removal and increase tree preservation," Schultz said during the presentation.

Ryan Companies representatives described Project NOVA as an advanced logistics building with a 650,000‑square‑foot footprint and about 3.6 million square feet of stacked floor area enabled by multiple floors and mezzanines to host robotic logistics systems. Company representative Dan Mueller said the building height and internal design are driven by the user and are difficult to alter: "It's strategically designed to serve a certain function within the advanced logistics nature of what they do," he told the council.

Key plan elements and outstanding issues the council and staff discussed: - Layout and phasing: Phase 1 focuses on Lot 1 (Project NOVA), consolidated stormwater facilities (Outlot B) and townhomes (Outlot E); Phase 2 would include the south industrial area and the small single‑family outlot east of Irene. - Road and access: Opperman Drive will be reconstructed and extended through the site; staff and the applicant are working on an easement across adjacent Gopher Resources property to connect Opperman to Yankee Doodle Road with a three‑quarter median design. - Trucking, parking and outdoor storage: The plan originally showed 1,274 employee parking stalls; revisions cut that to 980 stalls. Trailer and outdoor truck parking proposals increased (the plan documents show increases from earlier submittals to roughly 482 trailer stalls with 59 loading docks for a total of about 541 trailer/loading spaces). Staff noted requested deviations from parking‑ratio standards and some outdoor storage located on frontage sides of the building. - Building height: The applicant requests deviations to allow a maximum building height of up to 120 feet for Project NOVA where the I‑1 zone standard is 40 feet; the project narrative ties vertical construction to robotics and floor stacking that reduce footprint and enable the logistics use. - Tree mitigation and parkland: Revised tree inventories show removal rates reduced from 77% to about 68% with planned mitigation of 199 category‑B trees on site and a cash‑in‑lieu mitigation balance estimated at just under $600,000; staff stated the total required mitigation (based on the inventory) is 1,396 category‑B trees and that the applicant proposes to plant 199 on site with the remainder as cash equivalent. - Noise and airport buffer: The site sits largely inside a one‑mile airport noise buffer; residential construction will require interior noise reduction standards (19 dB reduction) to comply with the airport compatibility guidance.

Neighbors and at least one resident testified at the meeting expressing visual and skyline concerns about Project NOVA. Joseph Born of Ridgewood Drive said the building "is going to sort of dominate the skyline" and urged consideration of reducing height; the applicant said the building form is driven by the user’s technical needs and is not easily reduced.

Council members praised changes that increase tree preservation and add parkland and asked for clarifications on conservation easement timing, trail connections and details of truck routing. Council asked the applicant to record the conservation easement after Opperman grading and to refine landscaping and screening around outdoor truck storage if planting is not feasible.

Because the Metropolitan Council’s land‑use review remains pending, the council’s action tonight was to continue the items to the Nov. 19 meeting, when staff expects to return with Met Council action and final cleanup amendments.