Destination Medical Center Corporation Board Takes Major Step Forward on Heart of the City

ROCHESTER, Minn. (August 25, 2016) – At today’s board meeting, the Destination Medical Center (DMC) Corporation Board of Directors took a major step forward on DMC’s Heart of the City sub-district by approving the recommendation of the Heart of the City Community Advisory Committee to select RSP Architects as the design team for public space in Heart of the City. The DMC Corporation Board also was updated on the latest progress of the Discovery Square sub-district and transportation.

“The Heart of the City district is an essential part of our strategy to ensure Rochester’s place as America’s City for Health,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith, DMC Corporation Board Chair. “It will be the place where Mayo Clinic, medical innovation, new business and hospitality opportunities, and housing choices all meet. Today’s announcement takes us a step closer to this goal.”

Following the meeting, the DMC Corporation Board toured the recently reopened Conley-Maass Building located in Discovery Square and met with the building’s tenants and collaborators.

Heart of the City
Heart of the City will serve as the gateway to other DMC sub-districts. Following a series of presentations and interviews, the Heart of the City Community Advisory Committee recently recommended RSP Architects to design the Heart of the City’s public space as outlined in the DMC Development Plan.

The RSP Architects-led team includes Coen + Partners (lead landscape architect); 9.Square (urban design, architecture, planning, and community engagement); HR&A Advisors (open space development, management and strategy services); and Kimley-Horn (civil engineering, transportation, and DMC plan continuity.

Following today’s DMC Corporation Board approval, the Community Advisory Committee’s recommendation will next be presented to the Rochester City Council on September 7.

“We are looking forward to this partnership with DMC to help move to the next phase of realizing the vision of the DMC Development Plan, which includes designing the public space in Heart of the City,” said Derek McCallum, Design Principal at RSP Architects. “Our team is continuing to expand its presence in Rochester and we are very encouraged by the development opportunities that DMC brings.”

Discovery Square is an urban research campus where doctors, researchers and scientists will come together to accelerate new advancements in medical research, technology and patient care. During the 2016 BIO International Convention in June, Mayo Clinic announced it is working to identify a strategic real estate partner to expand its campus by building out more than 2 million square feet of research, commercial and product development space in Discovery Square.

A group of developers were invited to submit proposals to become Mayo Clinic’s development partner, and the goal is to announce the development partner in the coming weeks.

Transportation and Infrastructure
The DMC Corporation Board received a report from SRF Consulting Group, Inc. summarizing transportation and infrastructure management accomplishments for June and July 2016, including approval of funding from Olmsted County to support four transit planning studies that will serve as the foundation for future improvements to DMC.

SRF Consulting Group, Inc. also reported the Women and Minority Business Enterprise Implementation has been drafted.

Sub-District Developments

The DMC Economic Development Agency (DMCEDA) updated the DMC Corporation Board on the process to design the public realm/public infrastructure for the entire St. Marys Place sub-district.

In late June, members of the Saint Marys Place working group—including property owners, neighborhood association leaders, developers, as wells as City, DMC EDA, and Mayo Clinic staff—participated in a site visit to Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The site visit focused on transit-oriented development and public spaces along the Green Line light rail transit line.

The group also visited Latitude 45, an Alatus, LLC development similar to the proposed Alatus-Pompeian project west of Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys campus.

DMCEDA is working with the University of Minnesota Metropolitan Design Center to develop and lead the Design Sprint phase of this process. A 2-3 week “design sprint” is scheduled to begin in late September.

In other business, the DMC Corporation Board heard progress reports on DMC marketing and metrics, the PlaceMakers|Rochester Prototyping Festival to be held September 15-17, 2016; and approved the 2016 State of Minnesota Charitable Organization Annual Report and the 2015 Form 990.

The next regularly scheduled DMC Corporation Board meeting is set for Thursday, October 27, 2016, at 9:30 a.m.