Thousands of rental apartments have been built in the metro area over the past decade, but few developers have been willing to tackle for-sale condominiums.
And the latest is a small addition to those few: A 21-unit luxury building on a historic site in Wayzata.
The project recently received final municipal approval and developer Jeff Schoenwetter hopes to break ground early this year to satisfy a deepening dearth of for-sale condominiums in the metro.
The three-story building will be called Meyer Place at Ferndale, named for the Meyer Bros. Dairy it is replacing at 105 E. Lake St. on the northern shore of Lake Minnetonka.
Schoenwetter has been working for several years with members of the Meyer family, who will retain an ownership role in the project via a 99-year land lease that will transfer to the individual homeowners once the closings happen. Such land leases aren't common in the Twin Cities market, but they are seen often in bigger cities.
The flat-roofed brick, stone and wood structure was designed by Whitten and Associates and inspired by the Prairie School architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, according to Tom Bakritges, director of land development for Schoenwetter's development company, Homestead Partners, based in Hopkins.
"Whitten designed something with some historical perspective," said Bakritges. "It doesn't look like any other condo building."
The project is in a residential area of the city and Schoenwetter expects many of the buyers to be people who already live in the Wayzata area and want to downsize. Schoenwetter has already accepted 11 reservations.