Title
Recognizing Diane Nordquist for an Extraordinary Career with the City of Saint Paul and Congratulating her on her Retirement.
Body
WHEREAS, Diane has had a long career in public service in the Twin Cities area, starting with working for the Richfield HRA in 1988, Dakota County HRA in 1990 and Minneapolis CPED in 1999, before jumping the river to Saint Paul in 2001; and
WHEREAS, Diane’s project management career in Planning and Economic Development from 2001 to 2024, spanned the administrations of Mayors Norm Coleman, Randy Kelly, Chris Coleman, and Melvin Carter III; and
WHEREAS, Diane brings commitment to the public interest, creativity and dedication every day to the office, mentors newer project managers, sharing with them her in-depth underwriting and real estate development knowledge and insights, and serving as a role model; and
WHEREAS, Diane has managed scores of projects, representing tens of millions of dollars in public investment, and hundreds of millions of dollars in total development costs, resulting in the creation and preservation of critically needed affordable housing for Saint Paul residents; and
WHEREAS, Diane stepped up to act as developer, on behalf of the HRA, for the construction of the 57 unit Lofts at Farmers Market project, located at 260 East Fifth Street, which the HRA sold in 2015. This project represented some of the first new construction housing units in downtown in more than 20 years; and
WHEREAS, Diane coordinated the redevelopment of the 65 acre, HRA owned, Koch Mobil site, now known as Victoria Park, which included contamination clean up, construction of new roads, sewers, park space, and a diverse mix of hundreds of new housing units; and
WHEREAS, Diane was the PED Project Manager for the Dorothy Day project that provides emergency shelter bunks for 278 people, a dining room, and nearly 200 single room apartments; and
WHEREAS, Saint Paul has benefited from Diane’s commitment to quality affordable...
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