White Bear Lake decline taking area with it, lawsuit claims | Finance ...

Falling lake levels at White Bear Lake have hurt marina businesses and the beauty of the lake. But the overall economic impact is still unclear. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

A shrinking lake obviously looks bad. But it is unclear for now how much falling White Bear Lake water levels are affecting development aspects in the northeast Twin Cities suburb.

No matter what, White Bear Lake?s receding shores have disturbed enough local residents and businesses that they?ve sued the state Department of Natural Resources, blaming the DNR?s aquifer management for the lake issues.

The lawsuit, which citizens group White Bear Lake Restoration Association filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court, lists economics among the hardships: ?As boating, fishing, swimming, and other lake recreational activities have declined, so have the well-being of businesses on and near White Bear Lake.?

Michael Lander, whose Minneapolis-based Lander Group plans to break ground next year on a $19 million, 85-unit, market-rate apartment building in White Bear Lake, shares concerns about the lake level. But he also said, ?There?s more out there than just the lake.?

Lander mentioned a nice downtown, express bus service to downtown St. Paul and easy access to Interstates 35E and 694 among other positive features White Bear Lake has to offer residents and businesses.

?I think White Bear Lake is a wonderful community no matter what, but certainly the lake is its best amenity,? said Erik Ordway, a native of the city who still regularly boats on the lake and is on the board of the group suing the DNR.

Ordway in a separate role has real estate expertise through his downtown Minneapolis commercial brokerage work at Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq. He thinks a shrinking White Bear Lake could damage housing prices and inhibit other economic activities in the area.

?It was built around the lake,? Ordway said of the city of 23,800 residents. ?It?s an absolutely critical feature of what makes White Bear Lake such a nice place to be.?

Golden Valley-based Cambridge Apartments in June spent $4.8 million to buy the 81-unit Washington Square Apartments in White Bear Lake. David Dahl, executive vice president at Cambridge, does not think the lake situation will affect the building because its residents are seniors, and probably don?t boat much. But Dahl would be concerned if he owned a business or was a homeowner.

?I think it would be a real loss for the community,? Dahl said of the shrinking lake.

For now, DNR officials have no comment as they review the lawsuit, which was filed on the White Bear Lake Restoration Association?s behalf ?by attorneys at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi. The lawsuit cites a U.S. Geological Survey study that found surrounding communities? groundwater use affecting the lake level.

The water elevation at White Bear Lake in recent days reached a historic low elevation of 919.17 feet, down about 6 inches from its normally high level, according to the DNR data. Local residents complain of extra lake vegetation and having to move docks farther out into the lake; some have had to get permission from the DNR to mow exposed lake bed near their homes.

Meanwhile, White Bear Lake?s real estate market appears to be performing slightly worse than the overall Minneapolis-St. Paul metro.

The median price of a house in the city was $206,400 between 2009 and 2011, a 6.7 percent decline from the 2008 to 2010 period, according U.S. Census Bureau data on the Metropolitan Council?s website. The median price declined 5 percent, to $224,200, across the entire Minneapolis-St. Paul metro.

White Bear Lake?s apartment vacancy rate was 2.8 percent in September, up 0.7 percentage points from September 2011, according to Marquette Advisors? most recent Apartment Trends report. Across the Twin Cities, it was 2.7 percent, up 0.3 percentage points year-over-year.

Mark Sather, White Bear Lake?s city manager, thinks boat marina businesses are certainly impacted by the water level drop in recent years. The city?s marinas have been 35 to 40 percent vacant, versus the waiting lists they used to have.

Sather, though, is unsure about the effect on housing prices. Even with homes on the lakeshore, ?they?re still beautiful homes, and they?re still on a lake,? Sather said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2012 at 7:30 am and is filed under Business & Economy, Economic Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2012/11/white-bear-lake-decline-taking-area-with-it-lawsuit-claims/

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