SR Development LLC, an entity related to Minneapolis-based Schafer Richardson, has agreed to pay $2.96 million for a 1.31-acre site in St. Paul for its first apartment building in the city.
The company first announced plans to acquire the site at 217 Chestnut St. in April, but the deal was pending city approval. That happened last week when the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority cleared the purchase agreement for the triangular parcel, which is in a prime, high-traffic area that's just a few blocks from the Science Museum of Minnesota, Xcel Energy Center and the Mississippi River.
The site, which is known as the Ryan lot, was owned by the city, hadn't been on the market and was being used as a surface parking lot. It is next to a massive apartment project called Oxbo that's being completed by Twin Cities-based Opus Group.
Opus is also codeveloping a site across from the Xcel Energy Center for a Radisson Red hotel. That site could also include a public plaza and first-floor commercial space. In late 2015, Cossetta's Italian Market and Pizzeria opened its dramatically expanded digs along the West 7th corridor.
Maureen Michalski, director of development for Schafer Richardson, said that UrbanWorks Architecture had designed a single U-shaped building with two six-story wings that would face Exchange Street and Eagle Parkway.
The site slopes toward the river, enabling the developer to build two levels of enclosed parking. The six-story portion of the building would have 175 apartments, including some as small as 400 square feet. The project will also include a row of much larger two-story walk-up townhouses with three bedrooms that would face the Eagle Street Plaza park along Chestnut Street and Eagle Parkway.
"The location affords it many amenities — restaurants, entertainment, employment, riverfront trail — all in walking proximity," Michalski said when the project was first announced. "We believe we can transform an underutilized site from surface parking to a more vibrant and active use that will further enhance the area."
The company expects to start construction next summer.
