Address: 157th St. W. and Cobblestone Lake Parkway, Apple Valley
Type: Senior housing
Units: 193
Developer: Presbyterian Homes & Services
Architect: Pope Architects
Details: Eight years after it was first envisioned for a senior housing campus, a 16-acre site on the western end of Cobblestone Lake in Apple Valley is finally seeing development.
Ground was broken last month on Orchard Path, a 193-unit "continuum of care" housing complex from Presbyterian Homes & Services, which is contracted with Essential Decisions Inc. to develop this project.
The parcel, bounded by the lake and businesses, was vacant for years as the recession and other difficulties scuttled proposals.
The first came in 2008 when Oxford Senior Funds won city approvals for a 214-unit project. The builder ran into difficulties in the recession and, after receiving several extensions, landowner Tradition Development last year dropped the effort. It instead proposed a 44-lot single-family home neighborhood at the site.
But the Metropolitan Council had agreed in 2011 to support senior housing on Cobblestone Lake with an $896,000 Livable Communities Demonstration Account grant. Presbyterian Homes then entered the picture this year, partnering with Tradition to revive that concept.
In addition to the 193-unit building, future phases may include 64 additional independent living units and an 80-bed skilled nursing facility.
Don Jacobson
