Developers Eye 1,240 New Apartment Units in Minneapolis, Suburbs

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Minneapolis could see the construction of multi-family projects that would add more than 800 apartment units in its Downtown area alone.  The latest proposal is a six-story, 100-unit project that would be built by TE Miller Development L.L.C. If the project passes the Minneapolis City Planning Commission, it will add 100 units to the existing housing stock.

The TE Miller proposal follows plans by Greco Real Estate Development to convert two existing buildings into 250 apartments; a 185-unit project proposed by Hines Interests L.P.; and plans by a partnership of Ryan Cos. US Inc. and Excelsior Group to build some 250 apartments and a grocery store on the site of a former Jaguar dealership.

Beyond the robust Downtown pipeline, an even larger project may be in store.  In Maple Grove, LeCesse Development Corp. is proposing GrandeVille at Arbor Lakes, a 440-unit complex that would rise on a site formerly used for gravel mining. Dick Edwards, Maple Grove’s community development director, told the Star-Tribune in May that the project would be the city’s largest multi-family project ever and would boost density in the continuing redevelopment of the former gravel mines.

GrandeVille could be developed in two phases, a 240-unit first phase and a 200-unit second phase, according to Finance and Commerce, a local business newspaper. Plans call for four two-story buildings and units ranging in size from 810 to 1,600 square feet and in monthly rental prices from $1,200 to $2,100. The plan also includes a 12,500 square-foot retail development that will be built on two acres of the site.