Apple Valley Business Campus – Phase III Progress!

Apple Valley Business Campus – Phase III progress

Progress is being made on the office warehouse development & construction of the Apple Valley Business Campus – Phase III with this commercial construction project in the heart of located at 6275 147th Street West, Apple Valley, MN.

Just take a look at these pictures…

Apple Valley Business Campus - Phase II - Marketed by CERRON Moving dirt on the site.

Phase III includes eight (8) new construction office warehouse bays – each approximately 5,000 SF. The newest phase about to start (Phase IV) will include six (6) bays up to 16,000SF each.

Concrete footings being poured at the new construction site - photos by CERRON Commercial Properties Concrete footings being poured.

Concrete tip up panels installed at new office warehouse site in Apple Valley - photos by CERRON Commercial Properties Concrete panels being installed.

For more detatils on this project, which is now leasing (as is Phase IV – September, 2014 completion date), please click on our Listing Page HERE, or feel free to contact Bruce Rydeen in our office at 952-469-9444 for more specific details on this project!

 

Real Estate Options for Entrepreneurs: South Metro, MN

CERRON Discusses Real Estate Options for Entrepreneurs with Jessie Mommsen, Owner of Threads and Inks

Real estate options for entrepreneurs was a recent discussion point which came up during a conversation with local entrepreneur, client, and vendor, Jessie Mommsen, owner of Threads and Inks, located in Lakeville, MN. We followed up with Mommsen to find out how business is going since the move into their new building.

Here are a few excerpts from our discussion…

 

Q. Can you tell our readers a little about what prompted you to contact CERRON Commercial Properties?

A. We were (and continue to be) in a growth phase, and purchasing real estate [verses leasing] made sense as a financial component of our overall business plan at the time. We also only had 600 SF of retail space at the time and were in a location that didn’t allow us the type of exposure we needed to reach our target audience.

Q. Why did you choose to work with Bruce Rydeen?

A. This was actually the second time we worked with Bruce. The first time, he helped us to lease office/warehouse space in the Hebert Buildings in the Airlake Industrial Park in Lakeville. At that time, as I started my business, Bruce, and the building owner, Mark Hebert, respected me as a young business owner (I was 23 when I first started out), and that meant a lot to me. When we were ready to move our business, I chose to contact Bruce because of that previous experience; he is a trusted resource. When working with him to purchase our current building, Bruce was considerate of our budget, our timing, and our overall needs.

Q. How has your new space benefited your business?

A. As they say when considering real estate, “location, location, location!” Our new location attracts many more visitors than our previous location. We tripled our retail showroom space, so we are able to show off a lot more of our available products. Our new building has so much natural sunlight, it not only makes it happy in our space, but it allows our clients to see our products under optimal lighting conditions in an upscale environment as compared to our previous location which lent to more of an industrial focus.

Q. What would you tell other entrepreneurs when considering their real estate options?

A. Don’t be afraid to get creative when you consider a new space. Paint and carpet can be changed. Sometimes, walls can be moved. Landscaping can be updated. We had an electrician add power to our building to accommodate our machinery. Also, be sure to complete your homework [or due diligence] when buying a building. Whether we had our own experts, or needed some recommendations, Bruce helped us to navigate the process from showing to purchase agreement to inspections to title work to closing. For young entrepreneurs, don’t think that you are too young to own a building – you need to do what is right for you and your business, and I also recommend that you work with a broker you trust and who will listen to your needs.

 

About Threads & Inks: Threads and Inks specializes in custom-decorated clothing. Services include embroidery, printed apparel, letter jackets and patches, and more for students, schools, teams, businesses, organizations and individuals.

Location: 20137 Icenic Trail, Lakeville, MN 55044 (This is the north-west corner of Dodd Blvd and Hwy 50, just north of Kwik Trip and McDonalds.)

Building: 5,716 SF on three levels with production and retail on the main level, office on the upper level and additional storage and specialty retail on the lower level

Website: Threads&Inks

Store Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Threads and Inks Quote: “We have worked with the team at CERRON both times we needed a new space. Bruce took the time to listen to our space & budget requirements and helped to identify the ideal property. He helped us navigate the process and made sure we had everything we needed to get the deal done, and now…we LOVE our new location!” Jessie Mommsen, Owner of Threads & Inks, Lakeville, MN

Our entire team appreciates the opportunity to work with each of our clients and we love to hear how the space is working out for them. If you have a space APPRO and/or CERRON has helped you with, please let us know how it is working for you. If you haven’t worked with us, but would like to learn more about how to start, please feel free to email us or call our office. Our knowledgeable & friendly team is available to answer any question(s) you may have (big or small).

 

 

Work Environment Design Ideas to Help Reduce the Cost of Employee Turnover, Improve Employee Health and Increase Your “Green Initiatives”

Healthy Work Environment Design Ideas Help Employers, Employees and the Environment!

Showers at work??? Creating a “lounge feeling” in the business place???

What would make the cost for such employee “luxuries” worth the investment?

Boosting employee morale, reducing turnover, encouraging healthier employees, and

making bicycling to work a feasible option…that’s why it’s worth the investment!

There are some simple changes you can do as a business owner to help make the work environment more comfortable for your employees, and in turn more profitable for you! Employee turnover and healthcare costs are huge expenses, so focusing on employee retention and health, are constantly desired goals.

What are some things you can do to create a healthy work environment for your current facility or office, or consider when acquiring a new space??? Here’s a list of a few easy, or relatively easy changes:

work environment design ideas - lighting & cheerful paint Image Source: APPRO Development, Inc.

Lighting – “A dreary office lacking light and color can cause depression and a lack of motivation. Brighten up the space with a soothing paint job, green plants, and tasteful artwork. If it is not possible to fix up the environment (i.e. a warehouse or factory), make sure you offer adequate breaks and a break room where employees can relax, eat, and rest.” (As noted on WikiHow’s website article, “How to Improve Employee Morale”.)

As simple as it may be, a fresh coat of cheery paint or changing the type of bulbs you currently use can have a HUGE impact on your employees’ comfort and productivity! “The quality of lighting in a workplace can have a significant effect on productivity. With adequate lighting workers can produce more products with fewer mistakes, which can lead to a 10-50 % increase in productivity. Good lighting can decrease errors by 30-60% as well as decrease eye-strain and the headaches, nausea, and neck pain which often accompany eyestrain. Adequate lighting allows workers to concentrate better on their work which increases productivity.” (As noted in “Lighting in the Workplace”.)

Work Environment Design Ideas - Showers at work Image Source: Sunflower Cottage

Shower facilities – The CDC encourages employers to get on board with healthy work environments by encouraging physical activity! “Worksite campus design encourages incorporating physical activity into daily routines. Encouraging employee physical activity on-site can include building safe walking trails or paths on the company campus, installing showers for joggers and exercisers, and installing gyms with aerobic and weight training equipment…”

Keep it simple & let your employees provide their own towels & soap. All you have to do is provide a clean shower with warm water and lockers for your employees to keep their own supplies in!

work environment design ideas - water bottle refill stationWater bottle refill station – Here’s another quick improvement to your workplace – install a water bottle refill station and you will obtain several benefits!

  • Increase water consumption to improve employees’ alertness, concentration, performance AND safety! Learn more at http://www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2012/06/Hydration-at-Work.pdf
  • Reduce waste – refillable/reusable bottles are better for the environment
  • $ saved – less trash = less waste management fees

Idea: Occasionally provide lemons or limes for your employees to add to their water – an easy way to treat your employees and show that you care!

Click HERE to see an example of the water bottle refill stations for both indoors and out.

Bike Racks – Another bonus to installing showers is that it encourages employees to ride their bike to work, which along with the obvious health benefits, reduces auto-emissions and the amount of traffic in your parking lots. Help keep your employees’ bikes safe while they work by providing a “bike commuters’ station” – a well designed rack is all you really need, but going an extra step to put in a concrete pad and adequate lighting would look nice, or go all out and install a canopy over the bike racks to protect the bikes from sun damage or rain.

Work Environment Design Ideas - Winter Biking is Possible! Image Source: Green Streets Initiative
In the WINTER??? Yep, read how: http://gogreenstreets.org/blog/bicycle-commuting-winter-its-not-difficult-it-seems

A great resource for understanding why and how employee health is so important is, “Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond… An essential health promotion sourcebook for both large and small employers” written by Partnership for Prevention and the Labor, Immigration & Employee Benefits Division – U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where they state:

“…organizations need to view employee health as a productivity strategy rather than as an exercise in health care cost management. Over the past decade, the emerging discipline of Health and Productivity Management (HPM) has shown that health and productivity are ‘inextricably linked’ and that a healthy workforce leads to a healthy bottom line.”

Take a look around your office or workplace; if you have one employee or one thousand, it’s up to you to decide if a small expense upfront is worth years of money saved. We are here to help you make the improvements needed to improve your workplace and to help conserve your bottom line. Please contact us to discuss making your workplace one that helps to retain employees and benefits you!

Apple Valley Business Campus Phase III Now Leasing!

Apple Valley Business Campus has Broken Ground and Phase III is Now Leasing!

Apple Valley Business Campus SignWith Phase I & II of the Apple Valley Business Campus fully leased, Phase III is now in full swing in the Dakota County community of Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Phase III of the Apple Valley Business Campus consists of eight (8) suites, each up to 5,280 SF office warehouse suites. This is an ideal location, just blocks from major retail and restaurants off of CR-42, near Galaxie Avenue, in the heart of Apple Valley, MN.

The site is zoned I-2 (General Industrial) and is ideal for a variety of uses including: Instructional Athletic, Manufacturing, Distribution, or Show Room, as an example of just a few potential uses.

Read more about this commercial construction project for Apple Valley’s popular office/warehouse spaces in recent news articles:

APPRO & CERRON Blogs

Minneapolis Star & Tribune

You may also learn more about the leasing information on this property at the following LINK or by contacting our team.

Cool Roofs for Commercial and Industrial Buildings in Minnesota’s Climate

Roofs for Commercial and Industrial Buildings – An Overview

roofs for commercial and industrial buildings by APPRO Development I Image Source: CRRC (http://coolroofs.org/resources/home-building-owners)

Roofs for commercial and industrial buildings are an important consideration for all building owners, and at APPRO, we are seeing a lot of discussion about, and implementation of cool roofs. The Department of energy has published a guideline for selecting environmentally friendly cool roofs aptly labeled “Guidelines for Selecting Cool Roofs” (click on the title for the link to the document) prepared by a sustainable energy consultant. The 23-page report goes into a broad overview of defining what a cool roof is and what the benefits are.

We’ve installed a variety of cool roof types as of late. From purely white roofs made of thermoplastic polyolefin or TPO to roof materials that have a color to them but still have a high reflectively rating (white isn’t the only cool roof color). The key to these we feel is not only what you see on top but the roof assembly as a whole.

The roofing material we at APPRO recommend is catered to you from careful consideration of what your space is being used for, how it is being built, the project budget, and longevity and warranty of the product being considered. New style materials with the “cool roof” label are here to stay. Those can add benefit to your building. But don’t look past the more traditional materials with a longer history and modifications that also make them cooler. For instance, a traditional asphalt built-up roofing system with a crushed white limestone rock in lieu of the standard gravel.

Contact our team for more ideas and help in choosing a roof for your commercial and/or industrial building(s). We have the proven experience and expertise to make your next project an informed and worry-free process.

Apple Valley MN CERRON Client Mark Hebert Recognized

Longtime Apple Valley MN CERRON Client Recognized at State of the City – Apple Valley Mayoral Address

Apple Valley MN CERRON Client mark_hebertApple Valley MN CERRON client, Mark Hebert, was recently recognized by Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland, at her recent Mayoral address during the State of the City of Apple Valley event, held on April 9th, 2014, at the Valleywood Golf Course. Mark Hebert, is the owner and builder of the Apple Valley Business Campus which includes Phase I with two buildings built in 2012 and now fully leased. After leasing both of the Felton Court Buildings, Hebert launched Phase II of the project with construction starting last week and now leasing with delivery date estimated to be early August, 2014.

The entire team at CERRON Commercial Properties congratulates Mark Hebert on his successes and his contributions to growing commerce in the City of Apple Valley!

 

 

Lakeville MN Housing is Booming – More Commercial Need

Lakeville MN Housing – New Development Approved

Lakeville’s Largest housing development since 2005 has been approved! Cedar Avenue Properties will add just shy of 1,000 new home sites to Lakeville MN. This massive addition of new homes will result in an increased commercial need in the area. CERRON Commercial Properties is currently marketing a property on the NWC of Cedar Avenue and Dodd Road which is easily able to accommodate a variety of commercial uses: apartments, memory care facilities, schools, places of worship, as well as retail or office opportunity. Now is the time to begin planning a large scale project to create opportunities to meet the needs of these new Lakeville residents.

You may read more about this new development in the Star Tribune or in the Sun Thisweek newspapers.

For additional information on the 15.5 acre commercial listing just off of Cedar and Dodd, visit the CERRON listing page and contact our team for more information on starting a commercial project near this new Lakeville MN housing development.

Lakeville MN Housing Development Planned at Cedar and Dodd Lakeville MN Housing Development Planned at Cedar and Dodd – concept plan by Mattamy Homes via Star Tribune

 

Cedar & Dodd - area commerce 15.5 acre parcel located just to the north of new housing development (majority of housing development to be located immediately south of the Parks Maintenance building on west side of Cedar)

Dakota County Community Helps Farmington Students Surpass Goal!

Dakota County students from Farmington HS Soles4Souls collectionDakota County Community Helps Local Farmington Students Surpass Fundraising Goal!

Dakota County businesses, APPRO and CERRON, are excited to announce that our local shoe drive was a huge success! Our local Dakota County community answered the call to donate shoes for an international not-for-profit organization, Soles4Souls (see recent blog article HERE). Farmington High School Students, Sydney Bockelman, Jacqueline Smithson, Andrew Lupowski, and fellow students involved in the Youth Development group, set a goal to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes for this 2nd annual event. The group was eager to share that they were able to collect 1,467 pairs of shoes, with 143 pairs collected from the APPRO and CERRON collection site (and a $200 cash donation). The Dakota County community was eager to help for this event. The APPRO and CERRON team also donated 450 cans of food to go to the local food shelf in connection with 360 Communities.

The students processed the shoes to be sent to the Soles4Souls regional collection site at a student lock-in – an annual event called “Games for Change”. At this event, the students play games like Volleyball and Dodgeball, and then spend time devoted to the non-profit work including Soles4Souls, 360 Communties, and making 500 peanut butter sandwiches for area youth.

Soles4Souls collection for Dakota County HS student programThe team at APPRO and CERRON was thrilled help support these local students in some small way and applauds all their hard work to help make both our local and global community a better place in which to live, learn, work and ideally to thrive! Way to go Farmington High School students!!

The Youth Development group was featured on WCCO news, you may see their website here(scroll down to find the Games for Change story).

Mankato Production Facility Up & Running: Mankato, MN

Mankato Production Facility Up & Running for Imperial Plastics in Mankato, MN

Imperial Plastics Mankato by APPRO Development Project Completion 03112014052The Mankato production facility is up & running for Imperial Plastics in Mankato, Minnesota. We celebrated the groundbreaking last August, 2013 and it great to see the machines installed and the company working to transition from their Kasota manufacturing location to Mankato, MN.

Dan Linehan, with the Mankato Free Press, recently wrote an article, “Plastics factory up and running: Imperial Plastics expanded in Mankato, broke ground Aug. 1″. Linehan summarized the project in more detail and included commentary on the Mankato project by Angela Riley, CFO for Imperial Plastics: “It’s been a great, great deal for us.”

If you are interested in building, developing, or adding on to your existing commercial space – please call the team at APPRO Development, Inc. Whether your project is a Mankato production facility, a retail remodel in the Twin Cities, or land development in North Dakota, our team can assist you in finding the perfect property solution to meet your unique needs in MN and ND. Contact us today to get your project started!

 

 

Local General Contractor and CRE Co. Present Award: Dakota County, MN

Gift Certificate to Firehouse Grille Awarded

Local General Contractor APPRO & CRE Co CERRON Award Firehouse Grille Drawing - Award to J. ZwartAs a local general contractor and commercial real estate (CRE) company, our team at APPRO Development and CERRON Commercial Properties sends out a Commercial Property Solutions newsletter every month. In our February E-Newsletter, we asked our subscribers for feedback on our companies by completing a survey about working with our team. To encourage participation, the survey respondents were all entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to the Firehouse Grille, located in Elko New Market, MN.

We were delighted to have so many people respond and grateful for the feedback we received. On Wednesday, March 5th, we held an official drawing for the gift certificate winner, and drew Jeanne Zwart’s name. Jeanne and her family have worked with the team at APPRO and CERRON for many years on multiple commercial property projects. Jeanne was awarded a gift certificate in our Lakeville office on March 19th.

Our sincerest congratulations to Jeanne and many thanks to all those that responded to our recent survey. We truly appreciate your time and feedback!

If you would also like to subscribe to our free monthly E-Newsletter, you may do so, HERE.

The Firehouse Grille is a bar & restaurant located in Elko New Market, Minnesota, and is also a completed project by APPRO & CERRON. You may learn more about this great local restaurant at their website HERE.