Fresh on the heels of getting a green light from the City Council, Roers Cos. plans to begin construction later this year of a 170-unit affordable apartment project on the site of two existing office structures in Burnsville’s Heart of the City area.
Burnsville’s City Council signed off on a final plat Tuesday night for the project, essentially clearing the way for construction on a 4.47-acre, transit-oriented site at 175 Burnsville Parkway W. To make way for the new building, Roers plans to demolish the office buildings at 151 and 201 Burnsville Parkway, according to a city staff report.
Replacing the office structures will be a building with four stories of apartments, one level of below-grade parking, and amenities such as fitness and community rooms. Outdoor attractions will include a dog run, a playground and a large rooftop deck, according to a project narrative from design firm Kaas Wilson.
Pete Schoeder, a development assistant with Roers, told the Planning Commission in June that the project would be a 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit deal with units restricted to renters at 60% of the area median income in Dakota County.
Roers has applied for a building permit and hopes to close on financing within the next 60 days, Nick Asta, a senior development associate with Roers, said in an interview Wednesday. The plan is to start construction in late summer or early fall, Asta said.
The proposed apartment building will be Roers’ second in Burnsville’s Heart of the City. The first was the 137-unit, market-rate Maven community, which was 61% pre-leased when it opened in April 2020, according to Roers. Roers sold the Maven in October 2020.
Roers plans to own and operate the proposed new building long-term, said Asta, who added that Roers will be the developer, general contractor and property manager for the project.
“We're drawn to the area. [The city] has done a really good job in this area of creating transit-oriented housing, different retail uses, and really drawing redevelopment,” Asta said.
Asta said the existing office buildings on the site are mostly vacant. The tenants are on short-term leases and will get help finding new locations, he said.
The City Council’s approval came after a strong review from the Planning Commission. In June, the Burnsville Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the project’s site plan, though at least one commissioner recommended a study to look at traffic impacts of new multifamily construction in the area.
“I really hope that the city does look at a traffic study at some point, given the amount of complexes coming in. I'd hate to see traffic slow down in that corridor,” Planning Commissioner Chris John said at the June 10 meeting.
Elsewhere in the city, MWF Properties is planning a 48-unit apartment building at 180 Pillsbury Ave. S., as Finance & Commerce reported in May. MWF’s Pillsbury Ridge Apartments will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units, a 48-stall underground garage, and 20 surface parking spaces.
Finance & Commerce reported in June 2023 that MWF Properties was planning a 110-unit, age-restricted apartment project north of Concorde Place and South of Gateway Boulevard in Burnsville as part of a multiyear effort to eventually bring 500 new multifamily dwellings to the city.
RELATED: MWF aims for 500 new multifamily units in Burnsville
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