Ex-hotel, now dorm offers a four-way win

Despite the two months left on a development moratorium at Lexington Avenue and County Rd. E, the Arden Hills neighborhood has seen an influx of nearly 300 new residents in the past month.

Northwestern College students have taken over a former Holiday Inn there in a deal viewed as a short-term win-win-win-win for the college, the city, the property owner and the businesses in the area. The four-story hotel was shuttered about a year ago, and the building and its adjoining eight acres went on the market.

Developer Rob Davidson, of Davidson Cos. Inc., heard that the college needed temporary housing for its burgeoning student body, and approached Northwestern. Zoning did not allow for institutional housing, so Davidson's company and the college asked the city to rezone.

The city agreed, and granted a three-year interim use permit, with some strings attached, to make the area safe for more consistent occupancy and to minimize the traffic impact.

The arrangement, reached during an intensive 90-day process last year, serves the college by housing students until it can build a new residence hall on campus. It serves Davidson by "bridging to the next economic stage," he said, and serves the city by ensuring a positive short-term use for the property, and putting it in the hands of a buyer who has bought into the city's future plans for the Lake Johanna Boulevard area.

The agreement required the college to provide shuttle bus service to bridge the 2 miles to campus. Davidson's company had to bring the building to code and build a sidewalk to Lexington Avenue, across the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks toward the Shannon Square shopping center. The city is looking at options for extending the sidewalk.

In addition to the $500,000 the college invested in furniture and improvements, the college negotiated a lease agreement that Doug Schroeder, the college's CFO and vice president for business, said worked for both parties.

Northwestern's 2,000 undergraduate students are required to live in college housing until they turn 21 or reach 90 credits. The 280 students on the dorm roster last week ranged from freshmen to seniors.

Room and board in Arden Hall, as it's now called, is $3,990 for the school year, which is comparable to the rate students pay in other dorms .

Roommates Keri Grandy and Molly Lefebvre, both juniors, said they chose to move to Arden Hall because it had the four-person room configuration they were looking for. It also is nice to be close to Cub, SuperTarget, Subway and Davanni's, they said.

Area businesses stand to benefit from the students nearby. Some have seen a bump in sales; others are working to draw students.

Bill Behrens, owner of the Subway shop just across the tracks, estimates that evening business is up about 15 percent over last year.

"I see a lot of young people," he said. "I haven't done a lot of questioning them as to whether they're Northwestern students, but I guess I'm going to do so."

Managers at the nearby Northwestern YMCA and SuperTarget said they also have seen increases.

A few businesses are reaching out to their new neighbors. Laura Ryan, owner of Peppachino Subs and Salads, said she was ending a promotional coupon to the printer, and Dan Flaherty, general manager of Flaherty Arden Bowl, said he was planning to distribute free game coupons in the dorms.

Meanwhile, Davidson said he and his partners are discussing possible future uses for the site.

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409