Hot property: Sunset Hill Apartments

Type: Rental apartments

Units: 64

Height: 4 stories

Developer: Duffy Development Co.

Details: An affordable-housing apartment building proposed for the north side of Interstate 394 across from the Ridgedale mall has received a series of preliminary approvals from the Minnetonka City Council.

The Sunset Hill Apartments would include 64 units of mainly low- and moderate-income housing on the northeast corner of Wayzata Boulevard and Sunset Drive S. on a spot that for many years was the site of the Gehrman Animal Hospital.

The veterinary practice has since moved and its original building, along with a nearby single-family home, would be demolished and combined into one lot under the proposal from Minnetonka-based Duffy Development Co.

He also is seeking financing from Hennepin County, partly in the form of Transit Oriented Development assistance, since the apartments would be adjacent to two Metro Transit bus routes.

Duffy said that after searching for sites to accommodate an affordable rental development, his firm settled on the Sunset Drive parcels because they were on a transit line, only three blocks from the Plymouth Road Transit Center, and close to 16,000 service and retail jobs.

City officials are proposing to enter into a contract with Duffy stipulating that at least 48 of the units would be reserved for tenants making 60 percent of the area's median income or less. The building would include 32 two-bedroom units, 21 three-bedrooms and 11 one-bedrooms.

Four of the units would be set aside for families coming out of homelessness, with social services to be provided by the Salvation Army, according to city documents.

The building would be managed by Northstar Residential and be equipped with an array of 24 solar energy panels on its roof, which would be used to heat water for residents.

The City Council at its May 2 meeting approved a change to Minnetonka's comprehensive plan to accommodate the project.

The council also approved the project's master development and building plans and granted it a preliminary plat approval.

Final approvals will be considered next month after Duffy secures financing and is ready to break ground on the effort, city planners say.

DON JACOBSON