After several years of environmental clean-up and several development proposals, the former Superior Plating site in northeast Minneapolis offically has a new owner. Lennar Multifamiliy paid $13.74 million for the the two-block-site at 315 First Avenue NE, which is two blocks from the Mississippi River and just across the river from downtown Minneapolis.
Lennar, a division of the Florida-based home builder, 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.
The seller was First & University Investors LLC, which completed environmental remediation earlier this year. 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, which passed on other proposals because they didn't offer the kind of density favored by the 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 to meet the demand for further development in one of Minneapolis's most dynamic communities."
