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Developers ask Lake Elmo for flexibility on downtown Machete plan; some council members resist changes
Summary
The development team for downtown Tap and Ladder and the Machete restaurant asked the council for flexibility and a contingency 'Plan B' and requested different timelines in a single development agreement; several council members said they expected the original RFP proposal to be delivered and asked for protections like an option-to-purchase or clearer timeline.
Representatives of the selected development team updated the council on two linked projects: a Tap and Ladder fire-station-adjacent development and the planned Machete restaurant in the parks building downtown. The developers asked for flexibility to pursue a contingency plan if the Machete restaurant concept cannot proceed on the original timeline, while moving forward with the Tap and Ladder fire station development agreement. The development team said economic setbacks earlier in the year reduced available capital and prompted the contingency discussion.
Some council members strongly resisted altering what they described as the original RFP-based proposal and flagged the risk of changing selection criteria after the fact; the city attorney suggested structuring protections such as a time-limited option-to-purchase that would allow the developer exclusivity to buy the property within a set period before entering a development agreement. Council and developers agreed to continue negotiations to craft a single development agreement with separate timelines for the two components and to address valuation and parking details in follow-up workshops rather than during this meeting.
