After several years of environmental cleanup and a stream of development proposals, the former Superior Plating site in northeast Minneapolis officially has a new owner.
Lennar Multifamily paid $13.7 million to owner First & University Investors for the two-block-site at 315 1st Av. NE., which is two blocks from the Mississippi River, people associated with the deal said Monday.
The sale puts the company at the head of a line of developers with plans for new towers on the northeast side of the river. At least three other firms have said they want to build high-rise housing in the area, which is dominated by low-rise storefronts and just a handful of towers built in the 1980s.
Lennar, a division of the Florida-based homebuilder, plans to build more than 250 rental apartments, a 20-story tower and 22,000 square feet of commercial space on half of the 5.45-acre site.
Lennar's vice president of development, Peter Chmielewski, said construction on phase one is expected to begin this fall.
After signing a purchase agreement to buy the property last year, Lennar has been working with ESG Architects on a plan for the site, which will include an apartment tower atop retail and townhouse-style rentals. After a handful of revisions, in May the plan received an enthusiastic response from the neighborhood group.
"The northeast Minneapolis neighborhood is one of the most vibrant and sought after locations for restaurants, retail and apartment living," said Gina Dingman, president of NAI Everest, which brokered the deal. "It is terrific that Lennar was able to acquire this site."
The site was originally home to a streetcar repair barn in the 1890s. Superior Plating, a metal finishing business, occupied the site from the 1950s to late 2011. Cleanup of the heavily polluted site cost more than $6 million.
The area northeast of the river has become popular with housing developers in no small part because of the riverfront and the views afforded by taller buildings.
Schafer Richardson, based in Minneapolis, wants to build a high-rise tower that would incorporate the Nye's Polonaise Room on E. Hennepin and an adjacent historic structure, which are within the St. Anthony Falls Historic District. That project is getting some pushback from members of an adjacent church because of the potential effect the new construction would have on the church building.
Twin Cities-based Alatus wants to build a tower with up to 40 stories where the Washburn-McReavy Funeral Home now sits on Central Avenue SE. The neighborhood group supports the designs for the project, which has not made its way through the municipal approvals process.
The most recent proposal comes from Golden Valley-based M.A. Mortenson, which wants to redevelop a half-block site on NE. 4th Street between 1st and Hennepin avenues into a mixed-use development that would include shops and a 20- to 25-story tower with housing.
The developer has had discussions with the city and the Nicollet Island-East Bank Neighborhood Association about the site, which is owned by U.S. Bank, but shares the block with Surdyk's Liquor and Cheese Shop and West Photo. The latest plan does not include those businesses.
The Alatus, Mortenson and Lennar projects are all just beyond the St. Anthony Falls Historic District.
Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376
