NOTE:  Engstrom and McMacMahon both spoke at Flower Mound's Open Space Symposiums during the DeLuca administration 1998-2004

Star Tribune / April 2, 2006 / By Jason Amundsen, Special to the Star-Tribune

Embracing open space

       The Fields of St. Croix housing development in Lake Elmo represents the ultimate expression of developer Bob Engstrom's somewhat unusual values.

       The project has 113 home sites on 241 acres, with more than half of the land set aside as deeded open space where residents can enjoy broad views of native prairie grasses and flowers.

       Growing up on a farm in northern Minnesota, "I learned about soil conditions, plant matter and trees," Engstrom said while walking through a restored prairie in the Fields of St. Croix. "It's been a big help in this business."

       In an industry that's known more for developing nature than for preserving it, Engstrom is something of a pioneer in his attempts to preserve green space.

       He's been at the forefront of a slowly emerging real estate trend known as "conservation development," an approach that has been gaining popularity as home buyers and developers themselves become more sensitive to the impact they have on the landscape.

       For more than a decade, Engstrom has been incorporating deeded open spaces -- and even an organic garden -- into housing developments throughout the Twin Cities.

       The standard for a conservation development is to set aside at least 50 percent of the land in a permanent trust.

       It's an approach that has been somewhat controversial in some communities, because it requires higher-density clustering of houses. But Engstrom said that there are numerous benefits, including higher property values and lower development costs.

       "It's the right thing to do, and it's also good for business," he said.

       For example, a traditional 200-acre development might get subdivided into 35 to 40 five-acre home sites. In a conservation development, that same amount of land would get divided into about 80 half-acre home sites surrounded by at least 140 acres of land protected from development by a conservation easement.

       Engstrom said that as development pressures increase even on the fringes of the metro area, more people are willing to pay a premium to live near deeded open space.

       At the same time, conservation developments can cost less to develop because they often have fewer roads, utility lines and other infrastructure.

       Ed McMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Minneapolis, said that Engstrom always has been ahead of his time in recognizing the virtues of this burgeoning trend.

       "Bob Engstrom is one of those people who recognizes that there's a double bottom line," he said. "You can be green while making money."

       Developers got their first taste of this from their experience building homes next to golf courses, McMahon said.

       "Golf courses were the first open-space developments," he said. "Developers could charge 25 to 100 percent more for the same [size] lot if it was next to a golf course. But if you scratch the surface, most buyers don't play golf. They just like the open space."

       Still, getting a conservation development built takes the right mix of ingredients, said Kim Chapman, principal ecologist with Applied Ecological Services in Prior Lake. "Specifically, you need a partnership between three major actors in the development process: the developer, the regulatory and permitting community [cities and counties] and the land advocacy community."

       Many communities don't want any high-density development even if it comes with plenty of open space. But Engstrom sees continuing interest that has helped him gain a competitive edge over other developers in acquiring new parcels.

       He said that he acquires most of his land from people who are sold on the approach. For example, a son or daughter inherits a family farm to which he or she has strong emotional and nostalgic ties sells it to Engstrom knowing that he will appreciate the land's history and beauty.

       "I hope I leave a legacy of neighborhoods that have community, character and lasting values like friendliness," he said. "I'm fortunate in that I've inherited a gift for seeing things in the third dimension, to be a little more creative in our approach."