1501 Johnson St. NE
NE Park Investment, LLC
Luxury apartment building
A fresh infusion of residential space is being planned by Ivy Properties for the Northeast Park neighborhood. On a spot in between The Quarry commercial area and the Jim Lupient Water Park, Ivy plans a 155-unit, five-story luxury project, according to a City Planning Commission memorandum. The units would be a mix of efficiencies, one- and two-bedrooms. The unusual Z-shaped building will have 161 underground parking stalls and another 60 surface-level parking spaces. The site near the Interstate 35W onramp is currently occupied by a one-story light industrial building and an unpaved area used for parking and storage.
508, 520 and 528 Washington Ave. N.
Dominium
Iron Store
The affordable housing project known as Iron Store is cancelled, apparently because of a dispute with the city over what exactly is “affordable.” Plymouth-based Dominium has called off the development planned for the North Loop. What Dominium has done is cancel a purchase agreement for buildings and property that were the former home of the C.J. Duffey Paper Co. Dominium had planned to create 210 affordable apartments out of three existing buildings and construct one entirely new building, all at a cost of up to $110 million. The problem, basically, is that worked out to roughly $550,000 per unit, or nearly double what Minneapolis sees as proper for affordable housing.
1400 Park Ave. S.
Dan Hunt
Weidner Apartment Homes
After many years, the site of the Minneapolis AIDS Project in Elliot Park will be getting a new life. The development, planned for a 1.7-acre plot on the southwest corner of 14th & Park, was first proposed more than three years ago. In 2015, Weidner announced plans for a six-story building with 240–260 apartments, underground parking and roughly 2,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space. Those numbers appear to remain fairly close to what will begin construction after the NCAA Final Four festivities end at U.S. Bank Stadium next April. Utility work will be going on throughout the winter.
3255 Garfield Ave. S.
AMP House Partners LLC
Amp House
Another long-discussed project, this one the so-called Amp House, a decommissioned 1913 electrical substation proposed to be transformed into a 12-unit apartment complex, is gaining traction. The plan presented to the city calls for sub-dividing the two lots the building sits on for the renovation of the brick substation and totally new construction of a second, attached three-story building. Tenants on the ground level tenant will have a principal entrance to the exterior of the building. Upper-level residents would share principal entrance facing the south property line.
Lake & Hiawatha
L&H Housing Partners and Hennepin County
L&H Station Phase II
The second phase of an ambitious project directly west of the Metro Blue Line Lake Street Station was presented to the Minneapolis Planning Commission. This phase of L&H Station, on the southwest corner of Lake & Hiawatha, is projected to include a 110,000-square-foot office building and three residential buildings with 423 apartments surrounding a nearly one-block-square public plaza. The City Planning Commission approved this second phase of the development in 2015. The proposed public plaza will be placed on the northeast corner of the site and will be home to the neighborhood farmer’s market. Also, a private street that will be constructed as part of this development will extend between 22nd Avenue South and East 31st Street.
1724–1728 Nicollet Ave.
Yellow Tree LLC
Mixed-use development
A six-story, 123-unit apartment complex with 2,900 square feet of retail space is in the works for a triangular lot overlooking Interstate 94 on the 1700 block of Nicollet Avenue South. Yellow Tree’s plans call for a mostly white-clad building with balconies and rooftop decks for the second floor. Parking for 61 vehicles will be provided below grade. Because of the unusual layout of the lot, a 92-foot setback will abut LaSalle Avenue on the west side of the building and may be used as a community garden or dog park.
10 W. Lake St.
City of Minneapolis
Lake Street Kmart
The long-sought demolition (or at least re-orientation) of the K-Mart store blocking off Nicollet Avenue at Lake Street may be moving toward reality. The city has revealed that it is undertaking to gain full control of the site from now-bankrupt Sears Holding Corp. and to offer it for sale for redevelopment, which would almost certainly mean restoring access through the site. The city purchased the land beneath the Kmart store in 2017, but Sears Holding holds a lease on the property through 2053. Options still under its control allow it to extend that lrsdr even longer, but the city is working to buy out that lease. In late November, Sears filed a list of 505 profitable stores around the country. That store is one of them. If the city manages to win the bidding for the property it would have the option to let the road through or to open the entire property for redevelopment.
1222 4th St. SE
Hennepin County
Southeast Library
A full renovation of the Southeast Library in Dinkytown, a Ralph Rapson-designed structure, is now going forward. Built in the 1960s to house a credit union, the glassy building has been a library for over 50 years and is now bit of a landmark for the area. Hennepin County has already closed the library in preparation for the $11.6 million makeover. Not only will the interior be modernized, the exterior will be refashioned to include outdoor seating and a canopy. The work, scheduled to take a year, will include opening the area between the lower level and the first floor and adding skylights to bring in more natural light into the building. Though the Southeast building has functioned as a library for more than 50 years, the structure still has some remnants of its previous life as a credit union.
811 Washington Ave. S.
Graves Hospitality
Moxy Hotel
Construction is progressing on schedule for another hotel addition to the East Washington Avenue area. Graves Hospitality’s second Moxy Hotel (after the Uptown location that opened in January) is scheduled to open in the spring of 2019 as part of the company’s Ironclad project, which will also include 174 apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail. The building design is broken into three distinct portions: a hotel, private residences and a four-story retail complex. The finished building will include an outdoors pool and prominent use of wood decor throughout. “Ironclad” is a nod to a long-since departed iron-reinforced grain elevator that used to be on the site. Kraus-Anderson Construction is handling construction. The Ironclad is owned by the Kharbanda family, which owns several downtown properties, including the nearby 511 Building.
527 Marquette Ave. S.
Maven Real Estate Partners
Rand Tower
Construction that will totally transform 26-story, 1929-era Rand Tower in downtown into a yet-to-be-branded hotel is expected to begin within the next few weeks with a projected cost $60 million. ESG Architects are handling the top-to-bottom redesign, which includes what is planned to be a signature element: a full service restaurant and outdoor dining area on the roof the building’s fourth-floor annex. Over the project’s long gestation, the city made clear its concerns for the preservation of the tower’s historic exterior design. Rand Tower is listed is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
