Update: Wednesday evening the task force approved the latest designs, and pending additional neighborhood and municapal approvals, the developer hopes to break ground this fall.
Lennar Multifamily has unveiled new designs for its proposed redevelopment of a once-polluted two-block site in Northeast Minneapolis, and will seek approval from a neighborhood task force Wednesday evening to proceed with the project. The latest plan (click here to see more renderings) calls for a 18-story apartment tower with a mostly glass facade and a swooping shape that creates curved wrap-around balconies. The project will include a low-rise apartment building atop commercial/retail space and a restaurant, and it was designed by Elness Swenson Graham Architects in Minneapolis.
The two-block site is at the corner of First and University Avenues just a few blocks from the Mississipp River. Other developers have come forward with plans for the site, but a neighborhood group has held out for a high-density project that will make a strong design statement.
Lenna Multifamily is a Chicago-based division of a national home builder that until recently has focused on building single-family homes. The company is also working on an apartment project near Southdale in Edina. Lennar's latest proposal is only for one of two adjacent blocks that have been cleared for redevelopment. Lennar extended a purchase agreement set to expire January 7, but is now working toward a February 6 "notice to proceed" deadline before a closing will be scheduled. We'll have a full report on Lennar's presentation and the task force's recommendations in the Bricks and Mortar page in the Friday Star Tribune.
