Developers accelerate plans on apartment projects around Minneapolis

Developers want to build a seven-story apartment building on a wedge-shaped lot in northeast Minneapolis, a hot spot for apartment construction.

Twin Cities-based Solhem Cos. and TE Miller plan to replace a small car dealership with 159 apartments on the pie-slice site, which is bounded by Central Avenue SE., 7th Street NE. and a rail line. It is within a couple of blocks of a popular shopping area and the Mississippi riverfront and serves as a kind of gateway to the neighborhood.

"The triangular site allows us to create a dramatic entry point into this part of Nordeast," said Curt Gunsbury, owner of Solhem Cos. "Our boutique Minneapolis brand complements the one-of-a-kind restaurants, breweries and retail that make Nordeast such a cool place to live."

He said the city planning department has been cooperative and that the Minnesota Department of Transportation has been particularly helpful in figuring out a way to use the embankment of a rail bridge that crosses the tracks as green space for the project, which is being reviewed by the Minneapolis Planning Commission committee of the whole at its meeting Thursday.

That proposal is just one of several large apartment projects with hundreds of units that are up for municipal review this week. Other projects include Axios at 4155 Hiawatha Av. S. and two developments being pitched by Reuter Walton, including the Riverside Apartments and 1410 Loring, which would be the largest with 232 units.

The seven-story Solhem/TE Miller project, according to a city staff report, would have three walk-up apartments on the ground-floor level and will include a full range of sizes, from studios to two-bedroom units with 400 to 1,102 square feet. Two levels of underground parking are planned.

Apartment developers have pounced on northeast Minneapolis. There are several hundred units under construction and more on the way. Mortenson Construction has already started building its 333 Hennepin apartment tower, and Lennar Multifamily recently played host to a grand opening for NordHaus, a mixed-use project with low-rise walk-up rentals and a 22-story tower that opened up entirely in mid-April.

Lennar recently announced revised plans for Phase II of the project, which will include a low-rise section and a separate tower that's shorter than originally planned but will have a higher unit count. A former vice president of development said the project will have 333 apartments, and that rising construction costs are among several factors that led the company to reconsider the makeup of the building. The company is expected to start construction late this year or early 2019.

Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376