Hot Property: Athlos Leadership Academy, Brooklyn Park

N.E. corner: 101st Avenue N. & Noble Parkway, Brooklyn Park

Type: Educational

Size: 89,464 square feet

Students: 1,200 maximum

Developer: Charter School Fund, Boise, Idaho

Architect: BRS Architects

Details: Part of a vacant lot in Brooklyn Park once planned for an Xcel Energy substation would become home for a new charter school under plans given preliminary approval by city officials last month.

Brian Huffaker of the Charter School Fund, which would serve as consultant and developer of the project, told the Brooklyn Park Planning Commission the mission of the Athlos Leadership Academy will be to integrate academics, character development, athletics and nutrition in a "whole life" educational concept, in part to promote youth fitness and work to combat childhood obesity.

Plans for the school show a colonial style that evokes a feeling of American heritage. They include gymnasiums in the center of the building, brick and stucco building materials and precast concrete pillars and columns.

Nearby residents were concerned about increased traffic, and so a new traffic signal at 101st & Noble — to be 50 percent funded by the developer — was included in the conditions.

The project last week gained City Council approvals for rezoning the site from single-family residential to "public institution" as well as for a comprehensive plan amendment, which still must be approved by the Metropolitan Council.