After years of neighborhood opposition in Linden Hills, apartments will soon rise on the corner of W. 43rd Street and Upton Avenue S.
The Minneapolis City Council gave final approval Friday to a four-story, 29-unit building on a corner formerly occupied by a Famous Dave's restaurant. Though a relatively small project, its passage signals the end of a yearslong effort by well-organized neighbors to shape development on the corner.
It is the fourth proposal for that corner to reach City Hall in just the last three years — others failed to launch or were rejected by the city — but developer Clark Gassen said it would be the last.
"We have a waiting list of people that want to move into this development. This project will break ground," Gassen said.
One opponent said nearby houses would be "obliterated" by the four-story height of the new apartment building.
"Now we're going to have a building that is twice as high as 95 percent of the other buildings in that little downtown," said Constance Pepin, who had appealed an initial city approval. "It's going to totally change — and I think for the worse — the character. I think it's going to destroy the character of Linden Hills' downtown."
Gassen said they have been working with neighbors to tweak the project, particularly around building materials and color palettes. He hopes to hire local artists to install art in the pocket park on the corner.
Another neighbor, Larry Lavercombe, filed an appeal aimed at improving the overall design of the building. He sounded optimistic about the project Friday afternoon.
