Shoreview buys land in a bid to keep tech firm

With an eye on controlling land for future redevelopment on County Road E, Shoreview has purchased a former Ramsey County Sheriff's Office patrol station and dispatch center for $2.2 million.

The purchase, approved by Ramsey County on Tuesday, allows Shoreview to prevent the property from being bought for an industrial use, according to a staff memo written by community development director Tom Simonson.

The purchase also will probably allow Shoreview to keep one of its larger employers -- robotics firm PaR Systems -- from moving outside the city as it considers a new site for its headquarters.

PaR Systems needs to move because Westinghouse Corp., which bought the company's nuclear division about a year ago, is exercising an option on the company's headquarters on Hwy. 96.

The company approached the city several months ago about relocating -- preferably but not necessarily in Shoreview, according to the memo.

In response, Shoreview proposed a deal in which the city would sell the former Ramsey County site to PaR Systems for $1 million.

The memo says the city and representatives for PaR Systems "have outlined general terms for a financial assistance and development agreement" to close in February.

However, she said, "In general terms, there was discussion. And obviously, the city is definitely in favor of actions that would keep PaR Systems in the area."

For now, Knoblock said, the company "is seriously looking at" buying and moving into a building adjacent to the sheriff's patrol station within the next four months.

As far as buying the old sheriff's building goes, she said, "I think that's something PaR will consider."

City Manager Terry Schwerm said a sale of the old sheriff's station to PaR Systems would help accommodate the company's growth and hold onto one of the city's better employers.

The potential $1 million sale price to PaR Systems -- about $1.2 million less than the city paid for the site -- is "part of an incentive [for PaR Systems] to stay in town," Schwerm said.

PaR Systems has been located in Shoreview for about 45 years, Knoblock said. It designs automation systems for government and the aerospace, marine, military and semiconductor fields, among others

Between the Shoreview company and two subsidiaries in Georgia and Washington, the company employs about 280 people, Knoblock said.

About 100 people work in Shoreview, she said, and roughly two-thirds of those jobs are engineers, technicians, project managers and other technical positions.

Schwerm said the city would like to work out a deal on the site with the company. "They've been a good corporate entity in Shoreview. So it's nice to keep them in town," he said.