Edina HRA asks for developer input as staff prepares RFP for 5146 Eden Avenue

Economic Development Manager Bill Neundorf briefed the Edina Housing and Redevelopment Authority on plans to return 5146 Eden Avenue to productive use, asking commissioners for parameters staff should include in a February request for proposals.

“This is a piece of property that has a value,” Neundorf said, and he urged clarity about expectations so a sale would close rather than stall. He described the site as currently zoned industrial but guided for mixed use, and said staff’s goal is to publish an RFP in February and, if under contract this spring, “aim to close it, to sell it next year.”

The discussion centered on competing objectives: speed versus price; requiring ownership housing (condominiums, co-ops, for-sale townhomes) versus allowing rental options; whether to insist on a public park and a restaurant amenity; and whether to seek public financing. Neundorf told the commission that market testing last year showed developer interest in townhomes in the luxury sector and unsolicited inquiries for rental apartments. He said the city does not expect to use tax-increment financing (TIF) for the site and that any public financing would be considered case-by-case.

Commissioners pressed staff about practical constraints and trade-offs. Commissioner Risser said she was concerned that the HRA’s current affordability and sustainability policies add cost and might impede a sale, and asked staff to consider relaxing requirements where appropriate. Commissioner Jackson said planning commissioners had asked staff to exploit a slope on the site for parking rather than grading and urged staff to analyze whether the property could serve a city use such as a fire station before sale. Commissioner Pierce urged flexibility on product type if proceeds could be used later to support missing-middle housing elsewhere.

Community Development Director Carrie Teague warned that proactively rezoning the parcel to PCD-2 would lower developer uncertainty but would remove the HRA’s leverage to require policy measures by right: “If we rezone it to PCD p c d 2, sell the site, they’re entitled to a development that meets those p c d 2 regulations. So the sustainability policy, affordable housing policy, those things would be tough to require.”

Executive Director Neal Scott added that the HRA currently owns the property and, under state law, proceeds from an HRA sale would be available for HRA purposes (housing, redevelopment, land acquisition). He noted an alternative approach—transfer the parcel to the city so sale proceeds would flow to the city’s general fund—but warned that has trade-offs because city sales are generally required to seek the highest price instead of prioritizing a specific project type.

Multiple commissioners recommended a focused, streamlined RFP that makes the HRA’s “must-haves” clear while retaining market flexibility. Commissioner Roeser and others preferred avoiding site-specific PUDs that lock the city into a single developer’s plan; several commissioners emphasized the need to avoid repeating past proposals that were never built.

Neundorf said staff will present a draft RFP at an upcoming meeting for final direction. He repeated the timetable: publish the RFP in February, solicit offers in the spring and, if a buyer is selected and zoning approvals follow, aim for a sale closing the next year.

Why it matters: 5146 Eden Avenue is HRA-owned, has been vacant for years, and represents a potential near-term source of revenue and housing or commercial development. Commissioners must balance policy goals—affordability, sustainability and public space—against developer interest and the need to actually sell and develop the parcel.

What’s next: Staff will return with a draft RFP and recommended site parameters for commissioner approval before publication.