Each issue the Development Tracker follows construction projects around downtown and Northeast Minneapolis.
700 Central
700 Central Ave. NE
Bader Development
The 700 Central development is roughly half-leased about a month after opening to residents, said Keith Jerome with Steve Scott Management, the building’s property manager. The apartment complex at the corner of 7th & Central in Northeast Minneapolis is home to 80 units, which are mostly one-bedroom apartments.
Construction is wrapping up on the property’s rooftop deck and The Bad Waitress, the café and restaurant slated to open early next year on the ground floor. The property, which comprises two roughly century-old warehouse buildings, features 176 parking spaces for residents and commercial tenants, a fitness center and a community lounge. Kaas Wilson Architects designed the residential community.
Namaste Apartments
937 13th Ave. SE
Project for Pride in Living
Project for Pride in Living has received a portion of the funding necessary to redevelop the Bunge tower in Southeast Minneapolis into mixed-income housing. The non-profit developer, which has owned the 80-year-old grain elevator complex for the past decade, is looking to turn the historic building into 150 units of affordable housing. Centered around the idea of being a sanctuary, Namaste Apartments would feature amenities like yoga studios, meditation spaces and outdoor gardens, according to Mary Novak, a senior project manager with PPL. The project, which will house residents making below 50 to 60 percent of the area median income, received $1.2 million through the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund in November. It is similar to the developer’s Rising Cedar building, although that building features supportive housing and care for adults with serious mental illness. If the project is fully funded, Novak said they expect to break ground by mid-2018.
T3
323 Washington Ave. N.
Hines
The first office tenant of the North Loop’s latest office building has officially been announced. Zipnosis, a company that provides a platform for health facilities to give virtual care, recently announced it will move to Hines’ T3 next April. The new office is nearly twice the size of the company’s current home at 3rd Street North and 1st Avenue North in downtown Minneapolis. The building, whose name stands for timber, transit and technology, is the largest modern timber office building in the United States. T3 is currently home to The Bar Method, a San Francisco-based barre fitness company. Brent Robertson, a managing director with JLL, said the building is primarily drawing interest from tech and creative firms.
Peavey Plaza
12th & Nicollet
City of Minneapolis
The City Council has approved a nearly $900,000 contract with a landscape architecture firm to rehabilitate Peavey Plaza on Nicollet Mall. Council members voted Dec. 9 to award the work to Minneapolis-based Coen+Partners, which will refurbish the plaza’s fountains and reflecting basin, repair concrete and make the area more accessible to people with disabilities. The 42-year-old plaza, located on the south end of the mall at Nicollet & 12th, has fallen into disrepair, with its cascading fountain and pools having been out of commission for years. The city’s goal is to finish reconstruction work by the end of 2018.
695 Lowry Avenue
695, 699 Lowry Ave. NE
City of Minneapolis
The City of Minneapolis is seeking development proposals for two vacant commercial buildings located along Lowry Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. The two Holland neighborhood buildings offer potential developers nearly one-third of an acre with 108 feet of frontage on Lowry. Developers have the option of demolishing the entire site for new construction or renovating the existing buildings. The due date for proposals is Feb. 2, 2017. The city will host an optional informal meeting at the Crown Roller Mill Building on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017 at 3 p.m.
729 Washington
729 Washington Ave. N.
United Properties
The Heritage Preservation Commission has granted a certificate of appropriateness to United Properties for a proposal to build a 10-story office building in the North Loop. The Bloomington-based developer is planning to build the office building, which will feature retail space on the ground floor, fronting Washington Avenue between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue. Another building, this time facing 3rd Street North, would include parking and approximately 44 units of housing. In total, the proposal features 184,000 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of retail space and 408 parking spaces, according to plans submitted to the HPC. Parking used by office tenants during the day would be available to visitors and residents during non–office hours.
Barrel House
101 3rd Ave. S.
ICM Realty Group
ICM Realty Group is proposing to rebrand the Mill Place building into the Barrel House. The Calgary, Alberta-based real estate firm bought the building, along with the adjacent building at 333 1st St. S. and the two-story Freight House building now home to a Dunn Bros. coffee shop, last March. ICM plans to rebrand the building as a nod toward Hall and Dann Barrel Co., a barrel manufacturer that originally occupied Mill Place in 1880. ICM declined to comment on the rebranding. The firm is putting in interior and exterior updates to the building, including adding modern amenities and renovating its atrium.
Lowry & Morrison Block
200-204 Washington Ave. N.
John Rimarcik
The Heritage Preservation Commission has approved a certificate of appropriateness to allow for the rehabilitation of a dilapidated North Loop building at the increasingly high-profile corner of Washington & 2nd. Restaurateur John Rimarcik, who owns the Monte Carlo a couple blocks away from the site, is proposing to overhaul a three-story1879 building known as the Lowry and Morrison block. For the past 12 years the 1879 building has been used for warehousing, according to the plans submitted to the Heritage Preservation Commission. The plans call for updating the masonry, replacing windows and fixing entrances. Once finished, the building will be used for office space on the upper levels and retail and/or restaurant space on the main level.
Spectrum
801 8th St. SE
CPM Cos.
CPM Cos. has begun leasing Spectrum, one of its latest student housing communities near the University of Minnesota, for next fall. The complex features a 102-unit apartment building and 16 four-bedroom townhomes on the north end of the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood. The amenity-laden building includes an outdoor swimming pool, rooftop grill and gardens, a patio cinema, a fitness studio, a dog park and a bocce ball court. The project, whose units are named after Instagram filters, replaced several homes and two Quonset buildings near the corner of 8th & 9th.
Local15 Apartments
1501 Como Ave. SE
CPM Cos.
CPM is pre-leasing an approximately 30-unit student apartment building in the Como neighborhood for next fall. The developer broke ground in the fall on Local15, which replaced the Como Imports Auto Repair shop on the corner of 15th & Como. The building targets University of Minnesota students and features some walk-out units and about a dozen enclosed parking spaces. Local15’s amenities include a community lounge and an outdoor patio.