Politicians and developers gathered this afternoon for a groundbreaking ceremony at Dock Street Apartments, a 185-unit rental building at 333 North Washington Avenue in the heart of the Minneapolis North Loop neighborhood.

The project will include a six-story building with 3,000 sqaure feet of retail sapce and a two-level parking garage. It'll be part of a larger redevelopment effort called North Loop Green, which include more shops and housing, that's being developed by Houston-based Hines Interest with financing from the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust.

"We believe Dock Street will prove to be a sound investment for our investors," said Kevin McCarthy, President of PNC Realty Investors, Inc., investment advisor to the BIT. "The property is well located in the heart of the Washington Avenue entertainment corridor and at the nexus of Minneapolis' public transit system."

The site is along the Cedar Lake Bicycle Trail, a Light Rail Transit stop and is just blocks to Target Field, making it a highly pedestrian friendly locale aimed at renters who want the convenience of not using their cars. The North Loop is in the midst of unprecedented building boom with thousands of rental apartments under construction and many more proposed. No new for-sale condos yet, but stay tuned....