Jul 22

Jul 22 Developer proposes 162-unit apartment building overlooking Mayo Field

More downtown housing options are on the horizon.

North Rock Real Estate is proposing a six-story, 162-unit apartment building near Mayo Field. The high-density development will sit on approximately 1.2 acres of land positioned between East Center Street and the Zumbro River.

“Riverwalk Downtown City Apartments” will offer a variety of apartment sizes and types, along with on-site amenities such as an exercise room, business center, pool and rooftop deck with views of the downtown.

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The apartments will be targeted toward young people, empty nesters and those who work and spend time downtown. According to Michael Zirbes, a partner at North Rock, about 60 percent of the units will be one-bedrooms. The design also calls for 12-15 walk-up townhomes on the street level.

Nearly 200 underground parking spots will be included in the complex, said Zirbes. There are no plans for any surface parking on site.

While much of the activity since the implementation of DMC has focused on the downtown core and St. Marys, the Riverwalk building is the first large-scale project to be proposed on the far northeast side of downtown.

The project is still in its early stages of the regulatory process and has yet to be presented to the planning and zoning commission or the city council. Zirbes emphasized that plans are subject to change depending on the feedback they get from the neighborhood and city government.

"We rather take more time and listen before we do anything," said Zirbes.

He said financing for the project has already been arranged and the first public meeting with the neighborhood was held Thursday night. North Rock has offices in both the Twin Cities metro and Rochester.

There has been a recent boom in new multi-family developments in the downtown area — from the 501 on First to The Park to Ovation (the latter project, formerly called Buckeye, recently broke ground). However, local leasing agents say there are still not enough downtown units to meet current demand.