{ Development Roundup } January 2020

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By JANE McCLURE

Reuter Walton unveils Fairview plans at Fairview and University

Two seven-story apartment buildings could rise at the northwest corner of University and Fairview avenues. Minneapolis-based Reuter Walton Development presented plans for 279 apartments in December to the Hamline Midway Coalition Development Committee. The project will go through the city approval process in 2020.

The complex will be one of the first new affordable housing projects on University west of Snelling Ave. The property, which is comprised of commercial buildings and a parking lot, is owned by Goodwill/Easter Seals of Minnesota. Reuter Walton was selected as developer through a request for proposals process conducted by the property owners, and has a purchase agreement for the property.

Paul Keenan, vice president for development at Reuter Walton, outlined the project. The University-Fairview development would be its first affordable housing project, Keenan said, with a mix of apartments offered at 30 to 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). Rents could be as low as $71 per month for a studio, at 30 percent of AMI.

Two buildings are proposed, one with 157 units and the other with 122 units.

The buildings would have a mix of studios, one, two and three-bedroom units. About 70 three-bedroom and 65 units would have two bedrooms, meeting a high demand for larger affordable units.

The buildings would share a 150-space Charles Ave. parking space with Goodwill/Easter Seals and would have 127 stalls of underground parking entered from a point mid-block. Each building would be E-shaped, with two plazas fronting University.

The developers studied the station area plans for the Green Line Fairview Avenue Station, the neighborhood plan for Hamline-Midway and other city plans, said Keenan. One goal is to improve the pedestrian experience in the area, with wider sidewalks, public art and preservation of the walkway connection between Goodwill/Easter Seals and the Fairview station.

HMC Committee members liked the idea of affordable housing, but they questioned why the project has no first-floor retail. Keenan said retail space can be challenging to rent. “We’ve had a lot of retail sit vacant in our developments,” he said.

The site has been in transition for more than a decade. Buildings where the parking lot is located were torn down several years ago. Finn Sisu’s old building, which most recently was a place of worship, will be torn down, along with another larger commercial building and a former service station/restaurant/retail shop.

Library property up for bids

The long-vacant Lexington Branch Library, 1080 University Ave., is being offered for redevelopment by the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA).

The building, which was originally the Center Theater, hasn’t been used as a library since 2005. It was replaced by the Rondo Community Outreach Library. It is zoned for traditional neighborhoods three mixed use and is near the Lexington Green Line eastbound station. The property size is .62 acres. Its value, based on a 2018 appraisal, is $450,000.

The HRA bought the building from the city’s library agency in 2014. A structural engineering report indicates that the building, while structurally sound, is in fair to poor condition. City documents indicate that the HRA will consider reuse as well as demolition proposals.

Residents say ‘no’ to Alatus

Citing the lack of affordable housing and a fear that new market-rate apartments could drive up rents and local property taxes, neighbors voted on Jan. 2 to oppose developer Alatus’ request for $11.25 million in public financing to aid in the construction of a six story, 236-unit mixed-use residential and commercial building at 411-417 N. Lexington Pkwy.

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