After Digi HQ move, Minnetonka revamps business park with giant apartment complex

Address: 11001 Bren Road E., Minnetonka

Type: Multifamily

Units: 482

Developer: Dominium

Architect: BKV Group

Details: After positive reviews from the city's Planning Commission, Minnetonka City Council members are considering final approvals and tax-increment financing for a new multifamily housing project on the proposed Southwest light-rail corridor.

The Planning Commission in May voted unanimously to approve the rezonings and building plans for apartment developer Dominium's proposal of 482 new units at 11001 Bren Road E., a 9.4-acre site within the Opus 2 Business Park. The 133,000-square-foot headquarters of Digi International, built in 1981, would be razed and replaced by three new apartment buildings.

Those would include a pair of "workforce" housing buildings with a total of 220 units and a third building containing 262 affordable senior independent living apartments. All three would have rooftop solar-energy systems capable of producing more than 562,000 kilowatts per year, covering about 20 percent of the development's electricity demand.

The site is just across Bren Road E. from the proposed Opus Station on the Southwest LRT Green Line extension, which is currently expected to begin service in 2023.

Dominium is seeking $7.8 million in tax-increment financing for the project. The City Council is set to consider that as well as final approvals for the project's zoning and building plans at its July 23 meeting.