This link, excerpted:
With new name, a fresh start sought for Ramsey Town Center: Ramsey Town Center now COR for a fresh start
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:06:21 EDT -
(Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Goodbye, Ramsey Town Center; hello, COR.
Ramsey officials have rebranded the beleaguered 322-acre mixed-use development they hope one day will become the heart of the city. Changing the Ramsey Town Center name is meant to shed bad memories that have included federal convictions against some of its financial backers.
"There are potential negative connotations with the old Ramsey Town Center name," Mayor Bob Ramsey said. Officials say the new name unofficially symbolizes "City of Ramsey" or the "Center of Ramsey."
Ramsey is not the only north metro city to consider rebranding an embattled project.
In May, the city of Arden Hills began referring to land for sale on the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant as Northern Pointe after more than a decade of environmental cleanup and a developer dropping out of the project the year before. New Brighton officials have talked about a new image for the Northwest Quadrant development, the subject of a large-scale environmental cleanup.
Darren Lazan, development manager for the COR project, said renaming Ramsey Town Center "allows us to have a new identity and fresh start. It was once a private development that failed."
The $1.3 billion Ramsey Town Center project experienced several setbacks starting as early as 2003. A loan went into default two years later, and an investigation revealed money was mismanaged.
[...] the city of Ramsey is trying its best to move on. Last year, it purchased 150 acres of the 322-acre site.
COR's boundaries were redrawn to include existing homes on the northeast corner of the site, expanding the entire project to include 410 acres.
Officials also are moving forward with securing commercial, retail, residential and recreational development. Housing has been scaled back to about 1,500 homes, and project plans have changed to be more "market-driven." The latest blueprint makes room for larger retailers to serve as anchor tenants that could draw people to the area, Lazan said.
It is differing from the original Steffen "Dream," this link, this memorable image:
and this:
Well Toto, it's still our cake in my book, they're only using a different frosting. Still our train stop, as maybe as ever. Yes Dorothy, he thought, but saying only, quietly, "Woof."