Three senior housing projects sprout up in southwest metro area

The southwest suburbs are experiencing a miniboom in new senior housing development.

Oppidan Investment Co., based in Excelsior, has received approval from the Shorewood City Council to build a 150-unit senior housing project on 4 acres of land at the corner of Chaska Road and Highway 7. The project will include 28 independent living units, 52 assisted living units and 25 memory care units.

The developer plans to begin construction in June and complete the project, designed by Pope Architects, in 14 months.

The company estimates an existing need for 260 senior housing units. Oppidan is partnering with Ebenezer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairview Hospital, to operate the facility and has asked for tax increment financing.

In another project, Ecumen, one of the nation's largest nonprofit providers of senior housing, has begun construction on a 54-unit co-op at 14301 Stewart Lane in Minnetonka. This is the first time the Shoreview-based nonprofit has built a senior housing facility using a cooperative model, where residents buy shares of the company that owns the building.

The project, called Zvago Glen Lake, is being developed by OneTwoOne Development, a partnership between Ecumen and Lifestyle Communities, based in Bloomington.

"We've had exceptional interest," said Julie Murray, Ecumen's chief business development officer.

The project is already 60 percent presold. The partnership has two other similar projects under development in St. Anthony Park and Apple Valley.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis-based Dominium started work last month on what will be a new affordable senior housing property in Prior Lake. The project, called the Grainwood, is located at 5101 Gateway St. SE. It is scheduled to be completed by next summer and will include 168 units.

"This project presented us with an opportunity to redevelop an underutilized site that will serve the community well. This new property will help fill future needs for senior housing in Minnesota," Ron Mehl, senior developer for Dominium, said in a statement.

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