What is the exit strategy for our existing building?

MSCSA currently owes no debt on its existing residence at 505 Como Ave. in St. Paul. If MSCSA chooses to purchase a new facility with MSUSA, the existing property will be put on the market for sale. MSCSA has maintained the previous layout of its property to include two apartment units on the upper level and a business operations space on the lower level. In total, the building is approximately 3,000 square feet. Upon confirming a purchase of a new facility, MSCSA leadership will consult legal counsel and determine the best process to use in preparing the existing property for sale.

Why didn’t we remodel 505 Como Ave?

In assessing the potential for remodeling, leadership determined that large limitations in the 505 Como Ave. property existed that financially prohibited MSCSA from remodeling the property. In Brief, some of the limitations are: Location, Age of building, Condition of building, ADA compliance, Amount of conference/programming space. If you would like to discuss this list further, please contact Justin Klander.

Purchase vs. Building New

Our real estate consulting firm, NTH, examined the finances behind the options of leasing, building new, and purchasing a facility. It was a very in-depth report and the decision was made by the Governing Council to explore purchasing a facility versus building. Cost was the major driver behind the decision.

The Joint Building Committee discussed each association’s respective Board meetings during their recent conferences.  The committee came to a consensus on what each Board agreed upon regarding the project thus far.  The details of the what each Board talked about during their conferences are confidential at this point, as they each were in executive session.  The committee also talked about next steps for the project, which include talking with potential design firms for the architecture work that would go into the project.  Vice President Johnson, the Executive Directors, and the consultants will conduct interviews with design firms that have submitted design proposals for the project.  These meetings will take place on Thursday, January 14, 2010.  After the interviews, the committee will schedule a future meeting time to discuss the firms.

Membership of the Committee:

Joint Building Committee Recommendation presentation at the MNSLS

• November 18 Meeting
  • The Joint Building Committee will be meeting via phone conference on November 18, 2009, to discuss the following:
    AGENDA
    To finalize space needs of the project;
    To review project timeline established by the consultants;
    To confirm date of tours of the sites under consideration;
    To discuss next steps of the project.
  • November 18 Meeting Minutes:
    • The Joint Building Committee met via phone conference on November 18, 2009, as stated on the MSCSA website.  The purpose of the meeting was to discuss final
       
      The committee came to a consensus that a conference space designated for one hundred users was not necessary and determined rather that the conference space in the new location fit forty to sixty users instead.  The committee is in agreement that the new location needs ample workspace to accommodate for the staff and also workspaces and small conference rooms.  As the project moves along, the consultants will be working with the committee to lay out such plans to fit accordingly with the sites.
       
      The committee received a project timeline from the consultants that outlines flexible dates and times that steps of the project need to be completed by.  These include components such as preliminary planning, preliminary design, building selection, and final design and construction.  The committee will use this timeline –over the life of the project to ensure it is staying on track, and also consult it when updating the boards of the associations on progress.
       
      A scheduled date of December 21, 2009, was set for the committee to meet in St. Paul and tour the sites under consideration.  The committee will also meet that day and discuss the project at its respective point in time.
       
      Lastly, the committee discussed the next steps of the project, which include narrowing a list of buildings to a short list and recommending architects and engineers for the project.  The committee will meet once more via phone conference prior to the scheduled site tour date

• December 21, 2009 Meeting
  • The Joint Buidling Committee will be meeting on December 21, 2009, to tour sites and discuss the following:

  AGENDA

  Timeline and process

  Shared space and shared services

  Review of buildings to be toured

  Review of scoring matrix

  Debrief and recap of tours

  • December 21 Meeting Minutes:
    • The Joint Building Committee held a meeting on December 21, 2009, and also toured potential sites for a joint building.  We started by talking about the timeline of the project and our progress thus far.  The project is moving along as planned.  We also reviewed the sites we would later tour and assessed a matrix that would help us score and weight the criteria based on importance.  Following these discussions, we toured three sites with the consultants.  After the tours, we reconvened and shared our scores and ranked the sites accordingly.  We continued our conversations about shared space and shared services as well as to ensure we are being mindful of all of the aspects of collocation and what it means for our associations moving forward.  After reviewing the individual scores, one property rose to the top as a favorite.  The committee will continue its conversations and move forward with the next steps of the project, in consultation with the consultants.

• December 29, 2009 Meeting
  • The Joint Building Committee will be meeting December 29, 2009, to discuss the following:

AGENDA

Timeline and process

Collocation

Project core principles

Financial

Tour 

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  •   December 29 Meeting Minutes:
    • The Joint Building Committee met over conference call.  We talked more in-depth about collocation of our two associations and the core principles that surround the idea.  The committee approved a guiding principles document.  Next, we talked about possible financing terms that would be necessary to pay for the project.  General numbers and percentages were presented so the committee could grasp what a loan would like should our respective boards give final approval of the project.  Staff will put together more details and numbers for the committee and the GC members for our next meeting on January 7, 2010.  Finally, because the committee narrowed down the search to one property, we discussed meeting for a walk through of the property with our boards next week since both of our associations have conferences in the metro area.  The tour will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 12:00 p.m.
    • Update provided at January conference:  Joint Building Update January Conference
    • Guiding Principles document:  Joint Building Committee Guiding Principles

• January 11, 2010 Meeting
  • The Joint building Committee will be meeting January 11, 2010, to discuss the following:

AGENDA

Recap of board meetings

Design firm proposals and review

Next Steps