Hot Property

CATHOLIC ELDERCARE SENIOR HOUSING

917-1001 2nd St. NE., Minneapolis

Type: Senior rental housing

Size: Five stories, 66 units

Developer: Catholic Eldercare

Architect: Miller Hanson Partners, Minneapolis

Details: A familiar player in senior care in northeast Minneapolis is expanding its services. Catholic Eldercare, which operates memory care, skilled-nursing care and assisted living facilities, is seeking City Council approval for 66 units of senior citizen rental housing that will include optional support services. The center would be at 917-1001 2nd St. NE., near Mainstreet Lodge, and close to Catholic Eldercare on Main.

"There's a growing need, for sure," Catholic Eldercare spokesman John Wingate said. "It's an old, established neighborhood. People like to stay close to their home church. They want to be near their parish."

Catholic Eldercare operates River Village East and River Village North, located near St. Hedwig's Church in northeast Minneapolis. Mainstreet Lodge and the new apartment complex are near St. Anthony of Padua Church.

The organization's most high-profile neighborhood venture is 1101 on Main, senior rental housing that started life as the unsuccessful Crescent Trace condominium project. In 2005, Catholic Eldercare purchased 40 unsold units and eventually bought out the remaining residents and converted the building to market-rate rentals for people over age 55.

The new project, set for construction in 2009, is in the planning stage and there are no formal designs available, but Wingate said it will complement the other buildings on the campus. The application to the city indicates the five-story building will feature an at-grade, ground-floor parking garage and common areas including a café, lounge, library, club room and management office.

A second-floor common area will include a wellness center, crafts room and outdoor terrace surrounded by a green-roof garden. Units will range from one-bedroom to two-bedrooms with a den. All units will have private decks. Rents for the new project weren't available, but Crescent Trace units range from $1,150 to $1,800 per month. The new project also will have some additional services available.

Wingate said the organization isn't worried about the wave of senior housing being built throughout the region. The organization, he said, is working closely with the neighborhood to provide a continuum of care based on the needs of the immediate area.

"I can't tell you how many people I've talked to who remember the nursing home when it was a convent school, and now they live there," Wingate said. "It's the entire circle of life right there. It's amazing."

ANNE BRETTS