Building projects explode around light rail line

Compiled by JANE MCCLURE

Apartment projects are again popping up in neighborhoods along Green Line light rail. Here’s an overview of what’s coming to a vacant lot near you:

Thomas Ave. site in play again

1500 Thomas Ave. is again being considered for redevelopment. MWF Properties has been working with St. Paul Planning and Economic Development (PED) to develop a four-story, 51-unit affordable rental building.

The property at the southwest corner of Thomas and Simpson St. was once part of the Samaritan Hospital complex. It was a sculpture garden for several years, but it has been locked up and inaccessible in recent years.

The developers are seeking up to $1.3 million in financial support from the city in federal HOME funding and are applying to the Metropolitan Council for transit-oriented development funding. Funding decisions are expected later this summer and in the fall.

The project as outlined would have underground parking, a patio by the building, a fitness center, storage and laundry facilities.

Lexington lot could house two buildings, 243 housing units

A long-vacant Lexington Pkwy. property could become home to 243 units of affordable housing. The Michaels Organization, a national housing developer/owner, and Minneapolis-based CPM Companies would like to break ground for the $38.9 million Lexington Station Apartments project in spring 2017, with completion of construction in fall 2018 and full occupancy by December 2018.

The apartments would be built on a 2.05-scre site at 411-417 Lexington Pkwy., just south of White Castle and TCF Bank. The site is owned by Wilder Foundation, which has its headquarters west of the property.

This is CPM’s first foray into affordable housing. Michaels is a veteran developer/operator of affordable housing, with more than 55,000 units throughout the nation.

The project would consist of two six-story ell-shaped buildings. It would have a mix of 106 studios, 1-6 one-bedroom units, and 31 two-bedroom units, with some units designed as walk-ups along Lexington. Some units would have balconies. Of the units, 24 would be set aside for homeless military veterans and 11 would be supportive housing for people with disabilities.

The developers are looking at working with Wilder to provide supportive services for residents.

The building would include some energy-efficiency features including a rooftop solar array and an energy-efficient design in construction. The rooftop would also include raised garden beds for residents. The grounds would feature a children’s playground, bike racks, and a bike fix-it station.

Because of the site’s transit-oriented zoning and its proximity to Green Line light rail, the buildings wouldn’t be required to have any off-street parking. It will have 82 spaces, 23 apiece on two surface lots and 36 below-grade. Parking could also be shared with Wilder Foundation, which has a ramp to the west.

Fuller Ave. would be extended east through the site as a bikeway/pedestrian walkway, and would connect to a planned city park along Griggs St.

Micro-apartments planned

Developers of the Carleton Artists’ Lofts at University and Hampden avenues will be adding a new four-story apartment building with rooftop patio to that area. The project has met no public opposition. St. Anthony Park Community Council supports the project.

The project by the Johnson family will create smaller “micro apartments” adjacent to new construction and converted liquor warehouses they have developed into apartments and artists’ lofts. The site is at 2326 Territorial Rd., and the building will be called the Raymond at Carleton Place.

The building will have 79 market-rate apartments. Between 70 to 80 percent will be micro-units of about 350 to 400 square feet. Rents will be $800 to $1,000.

The apartment building will occupy what is now an industrial/warehouse property. The property was rezoned several years ago as part of a larger rezoning tied to the Green Line light rail project.

Menard’s buys, demolishes property

The former American Paper Recycling building at 601 N. Prior Ave. has been demolished after it was purchased by Menard’s. The paper recycling company is moving to another St. Paul location.

Menard’s, which paid more than $2 million in 2015 for the property north of its Midway retail store, hasn’t announced what it will do with the parcel.

No request for city assistance for the project has been made and as of Monitor deadline, no plans nor zoning requests had been submitted for the site.

Midway Center shop will move

Midway Tobacco and Vapor is leaving Midway Center thanks to a variance granted June 20 by the St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The shop, which is also known as Midway Smokes, is moving from 1464 University Ave. to 1475 University Ave. The shop’s owner, Khader Safi, said he wasn’t able to get a new lease from Midway Center owner RK Midway.

The 34.5-acre Midway Center is eyed for redevelopment as part of a plan to build a Major League Soccer stadium.

Safi said that while he’d like to be part of the new development, a new lease wasn’t offered.

The shop was granted a variance from the city’s minimum one-half mile separation requirement between tobacco product shops. The regulation has been in place since 2010 and is meant toprevent too many shops from being located in one area.

Midway Tobacco and Vapor and a Midway Marketplace shop, Midway Tobacco Outlet Plus, opened their doors almost 20 years ago and predate the distance requirement. Both are grandfathered in if they stay at their current locations, but are affected by the distance requirement if they must move.

The relocated Midway Center shop will be 528 feet from Midway Tobacco Outlet Plus at 1418 University Ave. That requires a 2,112-foot variance from the half-mile or 2,640-foot distance between stores. It does meet the distance requirement from a Midway e-cigarette shop, Vape Pros, at 681 N. Snelling Ave.

It’s rare for the BZA to grant a distance requirement variance between tobacco shops. BZA staff recommended against the Midway variance, saying that Safi’s inability to find a distance-compliant new location doesn’t meet all of the findings needed for a variance. But the board approved the request, 5-1. Some BZA members said that the pending shopping center redevelopment is a unique circumstance that is beyond Safi’s control. They asked that the findings be rewritten for approval.