The Edina City Council got its first look this week at plans for a 375-unit apartment building that's being proposed by a Florida developer that already has several projects underway in the Twin Cities.
DLC Residential of Aventura, Fla., wants to build two buildings in two phases on a 5.7-acre site between Hwy. 62 and Southdale Center.
The project, at W. 66th Street and York Avenue S., is one of several large luxury buildings being built in the suburbs as developers of upscale rentals look for sites beyond downtown Minneapolis.
Edina, for example, is in the midst of its own building boomlet. Of the 1,288 new apartments that opened this year in the south metro, 232 of them were at One Southdale Place in Edina, according to a quarterly report from NAI Everest. Two more buildings are under construction: 246 units at 71 France and 242 units at 6725 York Av. S.There's also a proposal to build 160 units at 7200 France Av.
The average apartment vacancy in the southwest metro, which includes Edina, was 1.7 percent during the first quarter.
A document recently submitted to the Edina Planning Commission said the project will replace surface parking lots and a pair of dated office buildings with more "vital" development that is accessible to pedestrians and in alignment with the city's long-term planning goals.
"It will create a one-of-a-kind luxury residential community that is in short supply today," the document said. "It will transform the current auto-centric office development."
The site now houses a medical office building and the Titus Building. The first phase of the project would be a six- to seven-story, 230-unit building on the western portion of the site. The second phase would be a five- to six-story, 145-unit building. Both buildings would have underground parking with room for 575 cars.
Most of the apartments will have one or two bedrooms, but there will be several studio, three-bedroom and penthouse-style units. The apartments will have 10-foot ceilings and "amenities, conveniences and vistas currently not widely available in this community," according to the developer.
DLC, which has developed more than 4,000 units across the country, is one of several national housing developers scouting for sites in the Twin Cities.
The company is developing more than 500 apartments near the West End development in St. Louis Park. That includes the 158-unit Millennium at West End, which will be ready for occupancy this fall. The company was also one of several developers that made a play to redevelop the Superior Plating site in Minneapolis, which is now being developed by Lennar Multifamily, also in based in Florida.
The project is scheduled to be reviewed again by the Edina City Council on Tuesday.
Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376
