Hank Long//May 24, 2016//
Prolific condo developer Jim Stanton is digging into his next project near downtown Minneapolis while preparing to wrap up another one in downtown.
The Minneapolis Planning Commission on Monday approved a series of applications for the 374-unit Legacy Condos project at 121 12th Ave. S. in the Mill District. The development is a half-block south of the Mississippi River and immediately east of Stanton’s 164-unit Stonebridge Lofts, which opened in 2014.
Representatives for Stanton’s Coon Rapids-based Shamrock Development weren’t immediately available for comment Tuesday.
Legacy – expected to be completed in late 2017 – is the developer’s 10th condo project in downtown Minneapolis. Shamrock’s 320-unit Portland Tower project in Elliot Park is under construction and will open this summer.
The commission approved without discussion a rezoning, site plan and a conditional use permit for the Legacy project. The latest design is slightly different from the one Shamrock proposed earlier this year.
In February, Shamrock proposed spreading the units across a single 14-story building on the northwest quadrant of South Second Street and 13th Avenue. After members of the Planning Commission expressed concern about the overall mass of the building, the developer submitted new plans in March.
New renderings show the building broken up into different heights across the 4.27-acre site. At its peak the complex will reach 17 stories near Second Street. It will step down to eight stories in the middle of the site and back up to 14 stories on the side that faces the Mississippi River, according to a project narrative from St. Paul-based Oertel Architects.
Those changes were enough to win over the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association. The group last week wrote a letter praising the developer for working with area residents during the design phase. But the organization also expressed caution over the height of the building.
“It is understood that additional height is required to accommodate this design change and preserve open space on the site,” wrote association chair Nick Cichowicz. “However, the neighborhood hopes that the allowed height does not set a precedent for future adjacent developments. The site’s proximity to I-35W, position as an end cap to the Mill District and setback from the river make a strong case for height at this specific location.”
City Council approval is still needed for the rezoning request. The site is currently zoned for Light Industrial, which allows a maximum of six stories. The Planning Commission supported rezoning the parcel to C3A (Commercial Activity Center), which allows for taller residential and mixed-use development.
The developer has already started demolition work on the project site, once the home of the Cenveo printing plant, said Casper Hill, city spokesman. Cenveo recently vacated the 122,000-square-foot facility. Riverdale Ventures LLC, an entity associated with Shamrock, paid $8.3 million in cash for the site in May 2015.
Units at Legacy would range from 950 to 3,900 square feet, according to a project narrative.
Amenities would include a pet grooming area, community rooms, exercise space, a pool and multiple roof terrace areas. No commercial space is included in the project plans.
The city approval comes as Shamrock is nearly finished with the 17-story Portland Tower at 516 Eighth St. S. More than 45 percent of the units have been sold in advance of the August opening, according to sales team representatives marketing the complex. Prices start in the low $300,000s and top out at $850,000.
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